Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 80
आनंदकाननमिदं सुखदं पुरैव तत्त्रापि चक्रसरसी मणिकर्णिकाऽथ । स्वः सिंधुसंगतिरथो परमास्पदं च विश्वेशितुः किमिह तन्न विमुक्तये यत्
ānaṃdakānanamidaṃ sukhadaṃ puraiva tattrāpi cakrasarasī maṇikarṇikā'tha | svaḥ siṃdhusaṃgatiratho paramāspadaṃ ca viśveśituḥ kimiha tanna vimuktaye yat
ഈ ആനന്ദകാനനം പുരാതനകാലം മുതൽ സുഖദായകം. ഇതിൽ ചക്രസരസി—മണികർണിക—യും സ്വർഗ്ഗനദിയുടെ സംഗമവും ഉണ്ട്. ഇത് വിശ്വേശ്വര ശിവന്റെ പരമ ആലയം. ഇവിടെ മോക്ഷത്തിലേക്കു നയിക്കാത്തത് എന്തുണ്ട്?
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly presents Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Ānandakānana; Maṇikarṇikā (Cakrasarasī)
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame typical; not explicit)
Scene: A sacred map-like tableau: the bliss-grove Ānandakānana, the Cakrasarasī/Maṇikarṇikā pool/ghāṭa, the shining Gaṅgā as ‘heavenly river,’ and Viśveśvara’s temple as the axis; pilgrims move through each node toward a central radiance labeled ‘vimukti.’
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as inherently liberation-giving: its sacred sites and Śiva’s presence make the entire kṣetra oriented toward vimukti.
Maṇikarṇikā (identified with Cakrasarasī) within Ānandakānana/Kāśī, along with the revered river-confluence associated with the heavenly river.
No explicit rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated in this verse; it functions as a mahātmya declaration that the very kṣetra leads to liberation.