Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55
प्राच्यां मृडानि परिपाहि सदा नतान्नो याम्यामव प्रतिपदं विपदो भवानि । प्रत्यग्दिशि त्रिपुरतापन पत्नि रक्ष त्वं पाह्युदीचि निजभक्तजनान्महेशि
prācyāṃ mṛḍāni paripāhi sadā natānno yāmyāmava pratipadaṃ vipado bhavāni | pratyagdiśi tripuratāpana patni rakṣa tvaṃ pāhyudīci nijabhaktajanānmaheśi
温柔的女神啊，在东方请恒常护佑我们这些向你顶礼者；婆伐尼啊，在南方愿你步步救我们脱离灾厄；在西方，噢三城焚烧者（湿婆）之妃，请你守护我们；在北方亦然，噢大自在天后（Maheśī），护念你自己的奉献者。
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (as protected mandala)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Devī stands at the center of a sacred mandala, extending protection to the four directions; devotees bow as luminous guardianship spreads east, south, west, and north over Kāśī.
FAQs
Surrender (namana) to Devī and trusting her all-directional guardianship: the devotee seeks protection from dangers in every quarter and at every step.
The verse belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa (Kāśī-kṣetra Māhātmya), situating Devī’s protective power within the sacred geography and salvific aura of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī).
No explicit dāna/snānā/vrata is stated; it functions as a directional protective stuti (prayer) suitable for japa or recitation when entering, residing in, or circumambulating the Kāśī sacred space.