Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 130
महाश्मशानमासाद्य यदि देवाद्विपद्यते । पुनः श्मशानशयनं न क्वापि लभते पुमान्
mahāśmaśānamāsādya yadi devādvipadyate | punaḥ śmaśānaśayanaṃ na kvāpi labhate pumān
Setelah mencapai Mahāśmaśāna, bila seseorang wafat menurut kehendak Dewa, ia tidak lagi memperoleh ‘berbaring di tanah kremasi’ di mana pun—yakni ia tidak kembali pada kematian semacam itu.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Mahāśmaśāna (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (contextual)
Scene: Night at the cremation ghāṭ: funeral pyres blaze; a departing soul is shown rising toward a calm, luminous Śiva-presence, suggesting release rather than fear.
FAQs
Death in Kāśī’s Mahāśmaśāna is portrayed as spiritually decisive, preventing a return to repeated mortal fate.
Mahāśmaśāna in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), a famed cremation-ground associated with Śiva’s liberating grace.
No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse emphasizes the salvific significance of reaching Mahāśmaśāna at life’s end.