Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68
उत्तरे तु महालक्ष्म्या हयकंठीकुठारधृक् । काशीविघ्रमहावृक्षांश्छिनत्ति प्रतिवासरम्
uttare tu mahālakṣmyā hayakaṃṭhīkuṭhāradhṛk | kāśīvighramahāvṛkṣāṃśchinatti prativāsaram
مہالکشمی کے شمال میں ہَیَکَنٹھی ہے، ہاتھ میں کلہاڑا لیے؛ وہ ہر روز کاشی یاترا اور بھلائی میں رکاوٹ بننے والے وِگھنوں کے عظیم ‘درخت’ کاٹ دیتی ہے۔
Skanda
Tirtha: Hayakaṇṭhī (north of Mahālakṣmī)
Type: kshetra
Scene: North of the Mahālakṣmī shrine stands Hayakaṇṭhī—horse-necked or horse-associated goddess—holding an axe, depicted felling dark, tree-like forms labeled as ‘vighnas’, while pilgrims pass safely toward Kāśī’s sacred sites.
FAQs
Divine protection in Kāśī is depicted as active and continual—Śakti destroys obstacles that block dharma and pilgrimage.
The shrine of Devī Hayakaṇṭhī situated north of the Mahālakṣmī area in Kāśī.
No explicit rite is stated; the verse primarily maps the sacred geography and proclaims the Devī’s daily removal of obstacles.