Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 17.82

ei-mata nānā-sukhe prabhu āilā 'kāśī'

madhyāhna-snāna kaila maṇikarṇikāya āsi'

SYNONYMS

ei-mata — in this way; nānā-sukhe — in great happiness; prabhu — Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; āilā — came; kāśī — to the holy place named Kāśī; madhyāhna-snāna — afternoon bath; kaila — took; maṇikarṇikāya — to the bathing place known as Maṇikarṇikā; āsi' — coming.

TRANSLATION

Finally the Lord arrived with great happiness at the holy place called Kāśī. There He took His bath in the bathing ghat known as Maṇikarṇikā.

PURPORT

Kāśī is another name for Vārāṇasī (Benares). It has been a place of pilgrimage since time immemorial. Two rivers named Asiḥ and Varuṇā merge there. Maṇikarṇikā is famous because, according to the opinion of great personalities, a bejeweled earring fell there from the ear of Lord Viṣṇu. According to some, it fell from the ear of Lord Śiva. The word maṇi means "jewel," and karṇikā means "from the ear." According to some, Lord Viśvanātha is the great physician who cures the disease of material existence by delivering a person through the ear, which receives the vibration of the holy name of Lord Rāma. Because of this, this holy place is called Maṇi-karṇikā. It is said that there is no better place than where the river Ganges flows, and the bathing ghat known as Maṇikarṇikā is especially sanctified because it is very dear to Lord Viśvanātha. In the Kāśī-khaṇḍa it is said:

saḿsāri-cintāmaṇir atra yasmāt

tārakaḿ saj-jana-karṇikāyām

śivo 'bhidhatte saha-sānta-kāle

tad gīyate 'sau maṇi-karṇiketi

mukti-lakṣmī mahā-pīṭha-maṇis tac-caraṇābjayoḥ

karṇikeyaḿ tataḥ prāhur yāḿ janā maṇi-karṇikām

According to this passage from the Kāśī-khaṇḍa, one who gives up his body at Maṇikarṇikā is liberated simply by remembering Lord Śiva's name.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness