Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 140
आनंदकाननं पुण्यं पुण्यं पांचनदं ततः । ततोपि मम सान्निध्यमग्निबिंदो महामुने
ānaṃdakānanaṃ puṇyaṃ puṇyaṃ pāṃcanadaṃ tataḥ | tatopi mama sānnidhyamagnibiṃdo mahāmune
आनंदकानन पुण्य आहे, त्याहून पुण्य पंचनद आहे; पण त्याहीपेक्षा, हे महामुनी अग्निबिंदु, माझे सान्निध्य श्रेष्ठ आहे।
Skanda (deduced Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue style; addressing Agnibindu explicitly)
Tirtha: Ānandakānana / Pañcanada (Kāśī sub-tīrthas)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agnibindu (mahāmuni)
Scene: A panoramic sacred map-like scene of Kāśī: a verdant grove labeled Ānandakānana, a riverine confluence motif for Pañcanada, and at the center a radiant locus indicating ‘My presence’; the sage Agnibindu listens in reverence.
FAQs
Degrees of sanctity are affirmed, culminating in the highest fruit: direct divine presence (sānnidhya).
Ānandakānana and Pañcanada are explicitly praised within the Kāśī sacred landscape.
No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse functions as a māhātmya statement ranking sanctity and divine proximity.