Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 58
श्रोत्रद्वयं श्रुतिरवा दशनावलिं श्रीश्चंडी कपोलयुगलं रसनां च वाणी । पायात्सदैव चिबुकं जयमंगला नः कात्यायनी वदनमंडलमेव सर्वम्
śrotradvayaṃ śrutiravā daśanāvaliṃ śrīścaṃḍī kapolayugalaṃ rasanāṃ ca vāṇī | pāyātsadaiva cibukaṃ jayamaṃgalā naḥ kātyāyanī vadanamaṃḍalameva sarvam
ਜਯਮੰਗਲਾ ਕਾਤ੍ਯਾਯਨੀ—ਜਿਸ ਦਾ ਸਮੂਹ ਮੁਖ ਹੀ ਮੰਗਲਮਯ ਮੰਡਲ ਹੈ—ਸਦਾ ਸਾਡੀ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਕਰੇ: ਉਸ ਦੇ ਦੋਵੇਂ ਕੰਨ, ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਸ਼੍ਰੁਤੀ; ਦੰਦਾਂ ਦੀ ਪੰਕਤੀ, ਸ਼੍ਰੀ-ਸੋਭਾ; ਚੰਡੀ ਰੂਪ ਵਿੱਚ ਗੱਲਾਂ ਦਾ ਜੋੜਾ; ਜੀਭ ਅਤੇ ਵਾਣੀ; ਅਤੇ ਠੋਡੀ ਦੀ ਭੀ ਨਿਤ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਕਰੇ।
Skanda (deduced Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative convention: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Devī Jayamaṅgalā Kātyāyanī as an auspicious mandala-face: ears as sacred śruti, teeth as śrī (splendor), cheeks as Caṇḍī’s power, tongue as Vāk—suggesting mantra, learning, and protection through purified speech.
FAQs
Devī is praised as the all-auspicious power whose very presence sanctifies speech, hearing, and perception, and whose protection grants victory (jaya) and welfare (maṅgala).
The verse appears within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-māhātmya setting; while this śloka is a Devī-stuti rather than naming a single tīrtha, it functions as part of the glorification of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as a supremely auspicious sacred landscape.
No explicit injunction (snāna, dāna, vrata) is stated in this verse; it operates as a protective praise (stuti/rakṣā) intended for recitation and remembrance of Devī.