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
‘கங்காதர, அந்தகரிபு, ஹர, நீலகண்ட; வைகுண்ட, கைடபரிபு, கமட, அப்ஜபாணி; பூதேஷ, கண்டபரசு, ம்ருட, சண்டிகேஷ’—என்று ஜபித்து அவர்கள் இடையறாது கூறுவர்: ‘சேவகரே, இவரை விட்டுவிடுங்கள்।’
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.