Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61
चीर्णान्युग्राण्यरण्येषु तैस्तपांसि तपोधनैः । यैरियं हि समासादि मुक्तिभूर्मणिकर्णिका
cīrṇānyugrāṇyaraṇyeṣu taistapāṃsi tapodhanaiḥ | yairiyaṃ hi samāsādi muktibhūrmaṇikarṇikā
In the forests, those wealthy in tapas performed fierce austerities; by them indeed was attained this Maṇikarṇikā, this very “ground of liberation.”
Skanda (deduced: Kāśī Khaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (typical frame: sages/devotees seeking Kāśī’s greatness)
Scene: Forest ascetics—matted hair, bark garments—performing fierce austerities; the scene dissolves into Kāśī’s Maṇikarṇikā ghat with sacred smoke, river steps, and the sense of ‘muktibhūmi’.
FAQs
Māṇikarṇikā is presented as the fruition of intense tapas—an attained state and place leading toward liberation.
Māṇikarṇikā, called mukti-bhū (the ground of liberation), in Kāśī.
Austerity (tapas) as a preparatory dharmic discipline culminating in reaching the tīrtha.