Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 39
महाहनुर्महाग्रीवो महाकालो जितांतकः । मृत्युप्रकंपनो भीमो घंटाकर्णो महाबलः
mahāhanurmahāgrīvo mahākālo jitāṃtakaḥ | mṛtyuprakaṃpano bhīmo ghaṃṭākarṇo mahābalaḥ
มหาหนุ มหาครีว มหากาล และชิตานตกะ; มฤตยูประกำปนะ ภีม ฆัณฏากรณะ และมหาพละ—คณะคณาอันน่าเกรงขามเหล่านี้ยืนเป็นผู้พิทักษ์อันน่าสะพรึงของพระศิวะ
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A procession of gaṇas with massive jaws and necks, some bearing skull-garlands, standing at the thresholds of Kāśī; Mahākāla’s presence is suggested as a dark-blue aura behind them; the air trembles as ‘Mṛtyuprakampana’ shakes the very concept of death.
FAQs
The verse magnifies Śiva’s protective power through his gaṇas—fear itself (even Death) is shown as subdued in the orbit of Dharma and devotion.
Kāśī, implicitly—these gaṇas function as protectors in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s sacred-topography narrative.
None; it is a catalog of divine guardians and epithets.