Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 82
इत्युक्त्वा तं महीपालं हस्ते धृत्वा तपोधनः । सानंगलेखा राज्ञीकं तस्मिंल्लिंगे लयं ययौ
ityuktvā taṃ mahīpālaṃ haste dhṛtvā tapodhanaḥ | sānaṃgalekhā rājñīkaṃ tasmiṃlliṃge layaṃ yayau
Setelah berkata demikian, sang pertapa yang kaya tapa mengambil tangan raja itu; bersama Permaisuri Anaṅgalekhā, ia pun melebur ke dalam liṅga itu sendiri.
Unspecified (contextual narrator within Skanda’s Kāśī Māhātmya discourse)
Tirtha: Vṛddhakāleśvara
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages (frame)
Scene: A radiant ascetic takes a king’s hand; the queen stands beside them. As they approach the Vṛddhakāleśvara liṅga, their bodies dissolve into light and merge into the liṅga, while lamps flicker and petals fall—witnesses stunned into silence.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a place where devotion and guidance culminate in laya—final merging in Śiva—beyond ordinary death.
The Vṛddhakāleśvara liṅga (the same liṅga into which the devotees merge).
No explicit ritual is prescribed; the verse narrates the salvific outcome (laya) associated with the liṅga.