Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
गंगायां च सकृत्स्नातो हयमेधफलं लभेत् । तर्पयंश्च पितॄंस्तत्र तारयेन्नरकार्णवात्
gaṃgāyāṃ ca sakṛtsnāto hayamedhaphalaṃ labhet | tarpayaṃśca pitṝṃstatra tārayennarakārṇavāt
গঙ্গায় একবার স্নান করলেই অশ্বমেধ যজ্ঞের ফল লাভ হয়; আর সেখানে পিতৃদের তर्पণ করলে তাদের নরক-সমুদ্র থেকে উদ্ধার করে।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Scene: A pilgrim bathes in Gaṅgā at a Kāśī ghāṭa; beside him he offers tarpaṇa—water streams through fingers; above, ancestors appear relieved, rising from a dark ocean-like abyss into light.
FAQs
The Gaṅgā concentrates immense sacrificial merit; simple, sincere rites there can equal grand Vedic sacrifices and aid one’s ancestors.
The Gaṅgā (especially the bathing and tarpaṇa context associated with Kāśī’s riverfront).
Sakṛt-snānā (bathing even once) in the Gaṅgā, and pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water oblations to ancestors) performed there.