Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 89
यस्य तस्य न मोक्षोऽस्ति प्रेतत्वाद्वै युगैरपि । ततः सपिण्डीकरणे बांधवैः सुकृते नरः
yasya tasya na mokṣo'sti pretatvādvai yugairapi | tataḥ sapiṇḍīkaraṇe bāṃdhavaiḥ sukṛte naraḥ
यावत् प्रेतत्वमासाद्य तस्य मोक्षो न विद्यते। युगैरपि न सिध्येत; ततः सपिण्डीकरणे बान्धवैः सुकृतैः कृतं हितं भवति॥
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced: Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative style)
Scene: Kinsmen perform sapiṇḍīkaraṇa: three ancestral piṇḍas and the preta-piṇḍa are ritually united; the departed’s form becomes calmer, moving from restless preta to honored pitṛ.
FAQs
The preta-state is a binding condition, and proper ancestral rites performed by kin are portrayed as crucial supports for the departed.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the focus is on śrāddha-dharma and post-death rites.
Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa—an ancestral rite integrating the departed into the lineage of pitṛs—is explicitly referenced.