Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 81
कदाचित्तस्य देवस्य दर्शने याति जाह्नवी । मत्स्योदरी सा कथिता स्नानं पुण्यैरवाप्यते
kadācittasya devasya darśane yāti jāhnavī | matsyodarī sā kathitā snānaṃ puṇyairavāpyate
ചിലപ്പോൾ ആ ദേവന്റെ ദർശനത്തിനായി ജാഹ്നവി (ഗംഗ) അവിടേക്ക് പോകുന്നു. അവളെയാണ് ‘മത്സ്യോദരി’ എന്നു പറയുന്നത്; അവിടെ സ്നാനം ചെയ്താൽ മഹാപുണ്യം ലഭിക്കുന്നു.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative voice)
Tirtha: Matsyodarī (Jāhnavī-Gaṅgā manifestation)
Type: ghat
Listener: Kāśīkhaṇḍa interlocutor(s)
Scene: Gaṅgā as a goddess approaches to ‘see’ Nādeśa; the Matsyodarī waters shimmer as pilgrims bathe at dawn, offering arghya toward the shrine on the bank.
FAQs
When Gaṅgā herself honors a deity and place, the tīrtha becomes especially meritorious; bathing there supports purification and dharmic uplift.
Matsyodarī in Kāśī, associated with Gaṅgā’s movement and sacred bathing.
Snāna (ritual bathing) at Matsyodarī is praised as puṇya-bestowing.