Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 110
एतेषामपि तीर्थानां चतुर्णामपि सत्तम । पंचमं मणिकर्ण्याख्यं मनावेयवशुद्धिदम्
eteṣāmapi tīrthānāṃ caturṇāmapi sattama | paṃcamaṃ maṇikarṇyākhyaṃ manāveyavaśuddhidam
हे सत्तम! या चार तीर्थांमध्येही पाचवे एक तीर्थ आहे, ज्याला मणिकर्णी (मणिकर्णिका) म्हणतात; ते मन व देहाच्या अतिसूक्ष्म अंशापर्यंत शुद्धी देऊन पूर्ण निर्मळता प्रदान करते।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇī / Maṇikarṇikā
Type: ghat
Listener: Agastya
Scene: Five tīrtha emblems arranged like petals; the fifth (Maṇikarṇikā) shines brightest; a pilgrim’s mind depicted as a dark cloud clearing into a clear sky as he steps into the water; subtle aura around the head and heart indicating manas-śuddhi.
FAQs
Sacred geography is graded: Maṇikarṇikā is proclaimed a culminating tīrtha whose contact purifies the whole person—inner mind and outer conduct.
Maṇikarṇikā (also styled Maṇikarṇī), elevated as a ‘fifth’ preeminent tīrtha.
No explicit rite is stated; the implied practice is tīrtha-sevā—approach, bathing, and reverent engagement that yields śuddhi (purification).