Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76
रात्रावब्जेषु संकोचो दर्शेष्वब्जः क्वचिद्व्रजेत् । क्षीरोदे मंदरत्रासात्तदत्राध्युषितामिव
rātrāvabjeṣu saṃkoco darśeṣvabjaḥ kvacidvrajet | kṣīrode maṃdaratrāsāttadatrādhyuṣitāmiva
രാത്രിയിൽ താമരകൾ ചുരുങ്ങുകയും പ്രഭാതത്തിൽ എവിടെയോ താമരം വിരിയുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നതുപോലെ, മന്ദരഭയത്തിനു ശേഷം ക്ഷീരസാഗരത്തിൽ ലക്ഷ്മിയെപ്പോലെ അവൾ ഇവിടെ അധിവസിച്ചവളെന്നു തോന്നി।
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kolāpura (Mahālakṣmī-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other sages (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: A serene dawn scene: lotuses that had closed at night begin to open; the Goddess’s presence is suggested rather than overt—an aura like Lakṣmī after the churning of the Milk-Ocean, with Mandara’s shadow as a remembered tremor.
FAQs
Purāṇic imagery ties cosmic myth to sacred place: the same Lakṣmī of the Milk-Ocean is experienced as present in the tīrtha.
The Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting where Mahālakṣmī is envisioned as residing, linked symbolically to the Milk-Ocean mythos.
No explicit ritual; the verse uses lotus-time imagery and mythic allusion to establish sanctity.