Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 37
तीर्थानि संतीह पदेपदे हरे तुला क्व तेषां मणिकर्णिकायाः । कतीहनो संति शुभाश्च मंडपाः परंपरोमुक्तिरमाश्रयोयम्
tīrthāni saṃtīha padepade hare tulā kva teṣāṃ maṇikarṇikāyāḥ | katīhano saṃti śubhāśca maṃḍapāḥ paraṃparomuktiramāśrayoyam
O Hari, in diesem Kāśī gibt es an jedem Schritt Tīrthas — doch was könnte sich mit Maṇikarṇikā messen? Und wie viele glückverheißende Maṇḍapas finden sich hier! Dieser Ort selbst ist eine Zuflucht, an der Befreiung in ununterbrochener Folge erlangt wird.
Narratorial praise within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa context (Skanda tradition to Agastya implied)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Hari (addressed as ‘O Hari’)
Scene: A panoramic Kāśī riverfront with countless ghāṭas and maṇḍapas, yet the eye is drawn to Maṇikarṇikā: sacred fires, pilgrims with folded hands, ascetics, and the luminous sense of liberation hovering over the place.
FAQs
Among innumerable holy places, Maṇikarṇikā in Kāśī is proclaimed supreme as a direct refuge for continuous liberation.
Maṇikarṇikā (Maṇikarṇikā-ghāṭa/kuṇḍa) in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī).
No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse primarily extols the site’s inherent power to grant mokṣa.