Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 99
अत्रोत्क्रमणकालेहं स्वयमेव द्विजोत्तमाः । दिशामि तारकं ब्रह्म देही स्याद्येन तन्मयः
atrotkramaṇakālehaṃ svayameva dvijottamāḥ | diśāmi tārakaṃ brahma dehī syādyena tanmayaḥ
ഹേ ദ്വിജോത്തമന്മാരേ, ഇവിടെ കാശിയിൽ ദേഹത്യാഗസമയത്ത് ഞാൻ തന്നേ താരക-ബ്രഹ്മം—മോക്ഷപ്രദമായ മന്ത്രം—ഉപദേശിക്കുന്നു; അതിനാൽ ദേഹി ആ പരമതത്ത്വത്തിൽ തന്മയനാകുന്നു।
Śiva (deduced from Kāśī-mokṣa context: bestower of the Tāraka mantra at death in Kāśī)
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijottamāḥ (best of the twice-born) / sages addressed in the discourse
Scene: A dying devotee in Kāśī, near the cremation-ghāṭ, as Śiva appears in compassionate form whispering the Tāraka-mantra into the ear; attendants, lamps, Gaṅgā flowing, and the aura of liberation.
FAQs
Kāśī is praised as a supreme liberating field where Śiva Himself grants the saving knowledge/mantra at the moment of death.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī/Avimukta), implied as the place where liberation is specially assured.
No external rite is prescribed; the focus is on Śiva’s direct bestowal of the Tāraka-Brahman at the time of death.