Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 160
अष्टम्यां च चतुर्दश्यां तीर्थानि सह सागरैः । षष्टि कोटि सहस्राणि मत्स्योदर्यां विशंति हि
aṣṭamyāṃ ca caturdaśyāṃ tīrthāni saha sāgaraiḥ | ṣaṣṭi koṭi sahasrāṇi matsyodaryāṃ viśaṃti hi
On the eighth and the fourteenth lunar days, the tīrthas—together with the oceans—indeed enter Matsyodarī, in the measure of sixty crores and thousands.
Narrative voice (within Skanda’s Kāśī discourse)
Tirtha: Matsyodarī
Type: kund
Scene: A sacred pond/ghāṭa named Matsyodarī shimmering under moonlit tithi nights; streams of luminous ‘tīrtha-essence’ symbolically flow into it from distant rivers and oceans, depicted as personified waters entering a single basin.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sacred waters intensify on specific lunar days, concentrating the merit of many tīrthas into one place.
Matsyodarī, presented as a Kāśī tīrtha where countless sacred waters converge.
Observance of Aṣṭamī and Caturdaśī as especially potent days for tīrtha-related acts such as snāna (ritual bathing) and pilgrimage worship.