Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45
महामहोभूर्मणिकर्णिकास्थली तमस्ततिर्यत्र समेति संक्षयम् । परः शतैर्जन्मभिरेधितापि या दिवाकराग्नींदुकरैरनिग्रहा
mahāmahobhūrmaṇikarṇikāsthalī tamastatiryatra sameti saṃkṣayam | paraḥ śatairjanmabhiredhitāpi yā divākarāgnīṃdukarairanigrahā
Maṇikarṇikā — überaus erhaben und strahlend — ist der Boden, auf dem selbst die Masse der Finsternis ihr Ende findet. Und wäre diese Dunkelheit auch durch Hunderte von Geburten erstarkt, sie vermag der Zügelung durch den Glanz von Sonne, Feuer und Mond, der dort waltet, nicht standzuhalten.
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.