Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 86
द्रवरूपं परित्यज्य ललनारूपधारिणी । प्रत्यक्षरूपिणी तत्र मयैक्षि मणिकर्णिका
dravarūpaṃ parityajya lalanārūpadhāriṇī | pratyakṣarūpiṇī tatra mayaikṣi maṇikarṇikā
द्रवरूपाचा त्याग करून कन्यारूप धारण करून, प्रत्यक्ष स्वरूपात तेथे मणिकर्णिका देवी मला दर्शनास आली।
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context typically Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Audience within the Purāṇic dialogue frame (traditionally sages/Śaunaka group or a royal/ṛṣi interlocutor depending on chapter frame)
Scene: At Maṇikarṇikā, the watery essence condenses into a radiant maiden-devī, directly visible to the seer; the ghat steps, lamps, and sacred smoke frame the epiphany.
FAQs
The sacred power of Kāśī can become directly perceivable; divine grace is not merely symbolic but can be manifest (pratyakṣa) to the devotee.
Maṇikarṇikā Tīrtha in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), renowned in the Skanda Purāṇa as a supreme liberating sacred place.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; the verse introduces a direct vision of the deity connected with Maṇikarṇikā.