Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 100
गंगाधरांधकरिपो हरनीलकंठ वैकुंठ कैटभरिपो कमठाब्जपाणे । भूतेशखंडपरशोमृडचंडिकेश त्याज्या भटाय इति संततमामनंति
gaṃgādharāṃdhakaripo haranīlakaṃṭha vaikuṃṭha kaiṭabharipo kamaṭhābjapāṇe | bhūteśakhaṃḍaparaśomṛḍacaṃḍikeśa tyājyā bhaṭāya iti saṃtatamāmanaṃti
“ਗੰਗਾਧਰ, ਅੰਧਕਰਿਪੁ, ਹਰ, ਨੀਲਕੰਠ; ਵੈਕੁੰਠ, ਕੈਟਭਰਿਪੁ, ਕਮਠ, ਅਬਜਪਾਣੀ; ਭੂਤੇਸ਼, ਖੰਡਪਰਸ਼ੁ, ਮ੍ਰਿਡ, ਚੰਡਿਕੇਸ਼”—ਇਸ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਉਹ ਨਿਰੰਤਰ ਕਹਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ: “ਹੇ ਸਿਪਾਹਿਓ, ਇਸ ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡ ਦਿਓ!”
Skanda (deduced; continuation of the ‘tyājyā bhaṭāya’ refrain)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Gaṅgā (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brahmin interlocutor (implied)
Scene: A second wave of names is chanted: Śiva as Gaṅgādhara and Nīlakaṇṭha; Viṣṇu as Vaikuṇṭha and Kamaṭha; Yamadūtas recoil as if struck by sonic radiance.
FAQs
The verse extols the salvific power of divine-name devotion, presenting it as a shield beyond sectarian division (Hari-Hara together).
The broader Kāśī Mahātmya setting: Kāśī is celebrated as a place where remembrance of God’s names bears immediate spiritual protection.
Continuous recitation (saṃtatam āmananti) of these names—i.e., nāma-japa—is the implied practice.
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