Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
न देवलोको न च सत्यलोको न नागलोको मणिकर्णिकायाः । तुलां व्रजेद्यत्र महाप्रयाणकृच्छ्रुतिर्भवेद्ब्रह्मरसायनास्पदम्
na devaloko na ca satyaloko na nāgaloko maṇikarṇikāyāḥ | tulāṃ vrajedyatra mahāprayāṇakṛcchrutirbhavedbrahmarasāyanāspadam
Weder die Götterwelt noch Satyaloka noch das Reich der Nāgas vermag Maṇikarṇikā zu erreichen; denn dort wird selbst der mühsame „große Aufbruch“ gleichsam zu einem von der Śruti bezeugten Pfad, da sie die Ruhestätte des Nektars Brahmans ist.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly
Scene: A cosmic comparison scene: above, Devaloka, Satyaloka, and Nāgaloka appear as distant realms; below, Maṇikarṇikā glows at the Ganga’s edge. A departing soul is shown moving fearlessly along a luminous path, as if guided by ‘brahma-rasa’ emanating from the tīrtha.
FAQs
The verse asserts the unparalleled sanctity of Maṇikarṇikā, framing it as a supreme locus where the mystery of death is transformed into spiritual culmination.
Maṇikarṇikā in Kāśī, exalted above even celestial and cosmic realms.
No explicit ritual is stated; the focus is on the salvific status of Maṇikarṇikā as a mokṣa-kṣetra associated with the ‘great departure’.