Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45
महामहोभूर्मणिकर्णिकास्थली तमस्ततिर्यत्र समेति संक्षयम् । परः शतैर्जन्मभिरेधितापि या दिवाकराग्नींदुकरैरनिग्रहा
mahāmahobhūrmaṇikarṇikāsthalī tamastatiryatra sameti saṃkṣayam | paraḥ śatairjanmabhiredhitāpi yā divākarāgnīṃdukarairanigrahā
মণিকৰ্ণিকা—অতিশয় মহিমাময় আৰু দীপ্তিময়—সেই পবিত্ৰ ভূমি, য’ত অন্ধকাৰৰ ঘন ৰাশি মিলি গৈ ক্ষয় হয়। শত শত জন্মে বলৱান হোৱা অন্ধকাৰো তাত সূৰ্য, অগ্নি আৰু চন্দ্ৰসম জ্যোতিৰ সংযম সহিব নোৱাৰে।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Muni (unnamed in the excerpt)
Scene: A radiant Maṇikarṇikā-sthalī where darkness dissolves; the ghāṭa glows with a tri-luminary aura (sun-fire-moon), with pilgrims and lamps reflecting on the river.
FAQs
Kāśī’s Maṇikarṇikā is portrayed as a place where deep karmic darkness accumulated over many births is dispelled by divine spiritual brilliance.
Maṇikarṇikā-sthalī (Maṇikarṇikā in Kāśī/Vārāṇasī), celebrated as supremely radiant and liberating.
No explicit ritual is prescribed in this verse; it focuses on the intrinsic purifying power (māhātmya) of the place.