Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 140
आनंदकाननं पुण्यं पुण्यं पांचनदं ततः । ततोपि मम सान्निध्यमग्निबिंदो महामुने
ānaṃdakānanaṃ puṇyaṃ puṇyaṃ pāṃcanadaṃ tataḥ | tatopi mama sānnidhyamagnibiṃdo mahāmune
آنند کانن مقدس ہے، اور اس سے آگے پانچ نَد بھی مقدس ہے؛ مگر اے مہامنی اگنی بندو، ان سب سے بڑھ کر میرا قربِ خاص ہے۔
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.