Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 120
ज्ञात्वाज्ञात्वा च गंगायां यः पंचत्वमवाप्नुयात् । अनात्मघाती स्वर्गी स्यान्नरकान्स न पश्यति
jñātvājñātvā ca gaṃgāyāṃ yaḥ paṃcatvamavāpnuyāt | anātmaghātī svargī syānnarakānsa na paśyati
जाणून किंवा अजाणतेपणी जो गंगेत देहत्याग (मृत्यू) पावतो—तो जर आत्मघातकी नसेल—तर तो स्वर्गगामी होतो आणि नरकांचे दर्शन घेत नाही।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Jāhnavī)
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṛṣis; within Kāśī-khaṇḍa, Agastya appears as interlocutor nearby
Scene: At a Kāśī ghat, an aged devotee near death is supported by family; Gaṅgā flows calmly. A subtle celestial path opens above, while a dharma-guardian motif signals the prohibition against self-slaughter.
FAQs
Death associated with the Gaṅgā is portrayed as salvific, but Purāṇic dharma excludes self-harm from this promised benefit.
The Gaṅgā (Jāhnavī) as a liberating tīrtha, especially in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa milieu.
No detailed ritual is given; the verse states a doctrinal result concerning death at/in the Gaṅgā, with an ethical restriction against suicide.