Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79
संसारिचिंतामणिरत्र यस्मात्तं तारकं सज्जनकर्णिकायाम् । शिवोभिधत्ते सहसांऽतकाले तद्गीयतेसौ मणि कर्णिकेति
saṃsāriciṃtāmaṇiratra yasmāttaṃ tārakaṃ sajjanakarṇikāyām | śivobhidhatte sahasāṃ'takāle tadgīyatesau maṇi karṇiketi
কাৰণ ইয়াত সজ্জন-কৰ্ণিকাত অন্তকালত শিৱে হঠাতে তাৰক মন্ত্র উচ্চাৰে—যি সংসাৰবন্ধ লোকৰ বাবে চিন্তামণি সদৃশ। সেয়ে সেই স্থান ‘মণিকৰ্ণিকা’ নামে খ্যাত।
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā (Sajjana-karṇikā)
Type: ghat
Scene: Maṇikarṇikā ghat at twilight: funeral pyres glow; yet above the scene, Śiva appears compassionate, whispering the Tāraka into the ear of the departing; the mantra radiates like a jewel (cintāmaṇi) amid the smoke, transforming the cremation ground into a gateway.
FAQs
Liberation in Kāśī is grounded in Śiva’s direct salvific teaching (tāraka) bestowed at death.
Maṇikarṇikā (also referenced as Sajjana-karṇikā), famed as the locus of Śiva’s tāraka-upadeśa.
No human-performed rite is stated; the key act is Śiva’s utterance/teaching of the Tāraka at anta-kāla.