Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 100
दानानां च व्रतानां च क्रतूनां तपसामपि । इदमेव फलं मन्ये यदाप्या मणिकर्णिका
dānānāṃ ca vratānāṃ ca kratūnāṃ tapasāmapi | idameva phalaṃ manye yadāpyā maṇikarṇikā
Des aumônes, des vœux, des sacrifices et même des austérités, voici, je le tiens, l’unique vrai fruit : parvenir à Maṇikarṇikā et toucher ses eaux saintes.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Agastya
Scene: A symbolic tableau: scales weighing dāna, vrata, yajña, tapas on one side, and Maṇikarṇikā’s waters on the other—Maṇikarṇikā outweighs all; pilgrims offering lamps and water at the ghat; a serene ascetic pointing toward the river as the ‘true fruit’.
FAQs
All dharmic efforts—charity, vows, sacrifice, and austerity—are consummated by reaching Maṇikarṇikā, the liberating heart of Kāśī.
Maṇikarṇikā tīrtha of Kāśī, celebrated as the highest ‘phala’ (spiritual yield).
The verse lists dāna, vrata, kratu, and tapas as classical practices, but frames their culmination as pilgrimage/approach to Maṇikarṇikā.