Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 183
तस्मादत्र नृणां दाहश्चास्थिक्षेपश्च भारत । प्रयागादधिकौ प्रोक्तौ महेशस्य वचो यथा
tasmādatra nṛṇāṃ dāhaścāsthikṣepaśca bhārata | prayāgādadhikau proktau maheśasya vaco yathā
Darum, o Bhārata, werden an diesem Ort die Verbrennung der Menschen und das Übergeben ihrer Gebeine dem Wasser — gemäß dem Wort Mahēśas selbst — als verdienstvoller noch als Prayāga verkündet.
Narrator (contextual; speaker not explicit in the verse)
Tirtha: Barkareśvara (funerary tīrtha)
Type: ghat
Listener: Arjuna (addressed as Bhārata)
Scene: A sacred cremation ground near the Barkareśvara shrine: funeral pyre flames rise, priests chant, relatives perform asthi-kṣepa into consecrated waters/earth; above, Maheśa’s unseen sanction is felt, with Prayāga symbolically shown as a distant comparator.
FAQs
Śiva-centered sacred geography elevates even last rites into dharmic acts that generate exceptional puṇya when performed at a praised tīrtha.
A local Śaiva tīrtha in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa context is being praised as surpassing even Prayāga in merit for cremation and bone-immersion.
Antyeṣṭi (cremation) and asthi-kṣepa/visarjana (casting/immersing bones/ashes) performed at the praised place.