Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 27
गया तीर्थं च यत्प्रोक्तं पितॄणां हि मुक्तिदम् । पितामहानामृणतो मुक्तास्तत्तनया अपि
gayā tīrthaṃ ca yatproktaṃ pitṝṇāṃ hi muktidam | pitāmahānāmṛṇato muktāstattanayā api
And Gayā-tīrtha, which is proclaimed as the giver of mokṣa to the ancestors—when the debt to forefathers is discharged, even their descendants too are said to be freed.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Gayā-tīrtha
Type: ghat
Listener: Sadharmiṇī (contextual interlocutor)
Scene: At the Phalgu riverbank, a devotee offers piṇḍas with kusa grass and water; behind, subtle luminous forms of ancestors rise upward, their faces softening; a Viṣṇu footprint/Viṣṇupada motif anchors the scene.
FAQs
Serving and liberating one’s ancestors through dharmic obligations is a powerful spiritual duty; Gayā is upheld as uniquely effective for pitṛ-mukti.
Gayā-tīrtha, famed for ancestral rites and the liberation of pitṛs.
Implied rather than stated: pitṛ-kriyā such as śrāddha, piṇḍadāna, and tarpaṇa at Gayā to discharge pitṛ-ṛṇa.