Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 52
आनंदकानने ह्यत्र ज्वलद्दावानलोस्म्यहम् । कर्मबीजानि जंतूनां ज्वालये न प्ररोहये
ānaṃdakānane hyatra jvaladdāvānalosmyaham | karmabījāni jaṃtūnāṃ jvālaye na prarohaye
یہاں، اس جنگلِ سرور میں، میں بھڑکتی ہوئی جنگلی آگ کی مانند ہوں؛ میں جانداروں کے کرم کے بیج جلا دیتا ہوں اور انہیں پھر اُگنے نہیں دیتا۔
Śiva (as Maheśāna), praising Kāśī/Ānandakānana
Tirtha: Ānandakānana (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrims/seekers in the discourse frame
Scene: In a sacred grove by the Gaṅgā, Śiva appears as a controlled wildfire—flames that do not harm trees or devotees but incinerate dark seed-like karmic granules rising from beings; the grove glows with blissful light.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a liberating field where Śiva’s power destroys karmic seeds, preventing renewed bondage.
Ānandakānana—the sacred ‘Forest of Bliss’ of Kāśī.
No explicit ritual is stated; the verse emphasizes the intrinsic liberating potency of the sacred locale under Śiva.