Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45
महामहोभूर्मणिकर्णिकास्थली तमस्ततिर्यत्र समेति संक्षयम् । परः शतैर्जन्मभिरेधितापि या दिवाकराग्नींदुकरैरनिग्रहा
mahāmahobhūrmaṇikarṇikāsthalī tamastatiryatra sameti saṃkṣayam | paraḥ śatairjanmabhiredhitāpi yā divākarāgnīṃdukarairanigrahā
Maṇikarṇikā—vastly magnificent and radiant—is the ground where the very mass of darkness meets its end. Even if that darkness has grown strong through hundreds of births, it cannot withstand the restraint of the Sun-, Fire-, and Moon-like splendor that prevails there.
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.