Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72
अंतकाले मनुष्याणां भिद्यमानेषु मर्मसु । वातेनातुद्यमानानां स्मृतिर्नैवोपजायते
aṃtakāle manuṣyāṇāṃ bhidyamāneṣu marmasu | vātenātudyamānānāṃ smṛtirnaivopajāyate
മരണസമയത്ത്, മനുഷ്യരുടെ മർമ്മസ്ഥാനങ്ങൾ പിളരുകയും അന്തർവായുവാൽ അവർ പീഡിതരാകുകയും ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ, സ്മൃതി ഒട്ടും ഉദിക്കുകയില്ല.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A stark deathbed scene: the dying person’s body tense, subtle depiction of ‘vāta’ as swirling currents; attendants helpless; in the background, a faint silhouette of Kāśī/Viśveśvara indicating the promised remedy.
FAQs
Because death disrupts bodily and mental functions, relying on last-moment remembrance is uncertain; therefore one should seek protective spiritual supports and sacred contexts in advance.
Implicitly Avimukta/Kāśī, as the surrounding passage explains the special divine help available there at the moment of death.
No direct ritual is stated; the verse functions as a doctrinal warning about the difficulty of conscious remembrance at death.