Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18
न तद्रक्षेति यो मन्त्रं जपेद्र क्षाकृते नरः । तस्य स्यात्सर्वतो रक्षा समेषु विषमेषु च
na tadrakṣeti yo mantraṃ japedra kṣākṛte naraḥ | tasya syātsarvato rakṣā sameṣu viṣameṣu ca
जो पुरुष रक्षणासाठी तेथे ‘न तद्रक्षे…’ मंत्राचा जप करतो, त्याची सर्व बाजूंनी रक्षा होते—सुखद व संकटाच्या प्रसंगीही।
Skanda (deduced from tīrthamāhātmya instructional style within Skanda Purāṇa)
Listener: General ‘naraḥ’ (man) addressed via phalaśruti; earlier vocative to dvijasattamāḥ continues the didactic frame.
Scene: A traveler-pilgrim chants a protective mantra at the tirtha; unseen dangers recede—wild beasts, thieves, storms—forming a symbolic ring of protection.
FAQs
Sacred recitation at a tīrtha is upheld as a source of all-around protection, reinforcing faith and disciplined practice.
The chapter’s tīrtha in Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya; the excerpt does not specify the place-name.
Japa of the mantra identified by the opening phrase “na tad rakṣe …” for protective efficacy.