Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36
उपेंद्रतप्तानि तपांसि तैश्चिरं स्नाता हि ते चाखिलतीर्थसार्थकैः । स्नात्वेह ये वै मणिकर्णिका ह्रदे समासते मुक्तिजनाश्रयेक्षणम्
upeṃdrataptāni tapāṃsi taiściraṃ snātā hi te cākhilatīrthasārthakaiḥ | snātveha ye vai maṇikarṇikā hrade samāsate muktijanāśrayekṣaṇam
Through them, austerities equal to those of Upendra are as though practiced for a long time; indeed, it is as though one has bathed at once in the efficacy of all tīrthas. Having bathed here in the Maṇikarṇikā pool, whoever sits even for a moment at the refuge of those who seek mokṣa attains that sanctifying power.
Śiva
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā-hrada (Maṇikarṇikā-kuṇḍa)
Type: ghat
Listener: Acyuta (Viṣṇu)
Scene: Maṇikarṇikā pool shimmering beside the Ganga; a pilgrim bathes, then sits in still contemplation near a luminous ‘mukti-āśraya’ spot. A faint vision of Viṣṇu as Upendra performing tapas appears as a comparative motif, dissolving into the pool’s radiance.
FAQs
Kāśī’s Maṇikarṇikā is portrayed as a concentrated field of merit where bathing and even brief abiding equals vast tapas and tīrtha-fruit.
Maṇikarṇikā-hrada (the Maṇikarṇikā sacred pool/ford) in Kāśī.
Snāna at Maṇikarṇikā-hrada, followed by sitting/abiding even briefly at the mukti-janāśraya (refuge associated with liberation-seekers/liberated ones).