Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 26
सा सुषुम्णा परानाडी त्रयं वाराणसीत्वसौ । तदत्रोत्क्रमणे सर्वजंतूनां हि श्रुतौ हरः
sā suṣumṇā parānāḍī trayaṃ vārāṇasītvasau | tadatrotkramaṇe sarvajaṃtūnāṃ hi śrutau haraḥ
वह परम नाड़ी सुषुम्णा है; यही त्रय वाराणसी का स्वरूप है। यहाँ प्राण-त्याग के समय सब प्राणियों के कान में हर (शिव) का तारक उपदेश सुनाई देता है।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer/ṛṣi audience (implied)
Scene: A dying pilgrim in Kāśī lies near a ghat; Śiva, unseen to others, leans close to the right ear, whispering the liberating teaching; behind, the luminous subtle channel (suṣumṇā) is visualized as a vertical beam connecting earth to the crown.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a liminal, yogic-sacred space where Śiva grants the liberating instruction at death.
Vārāṇasī/Avimukta, where Śiva’s saving presence is specially accessible at the time of death.
No formal ritual; it refers to the salvific ‘hearing’ of Śiva’s teaching at the death-moment (antyakāla).
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