Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83
भवांबुधौ महागाधे प्राणिनः परिमज्जतः । भूत्वैव कर्णधारोंते यत्र संतारयाम्यहम्
bhavāṃbudhau mahāgādhe prāṇinaḥ parimajjataḥ | bhūtvaiva karṇadhāroṃte yatra saṃtārayāmyaham
இந்த ஆழமும் அளவிடமுடியாததும் ஆன பவஸாகரத்தில் உயிர்கள் மூழ்கும்போது, இறுதி வேளையில் நான் அவர்களின் கப்பல்-நாயகனாய் இருந்து அவர்களை அக்கரை சேர்த்துவிடுகிறேன்.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (with implied Maṇikarṇikā/Antargṛha sphere)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Implied audience of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration (traditionally sages/devotees hearing the glory of Kāśī)
Scene: A stormy ocean symbolizing saṃsāra; drowning beings reach out; Śiva appears as a compassionate boatman holding a rudder, guiding a small boat toward a luminous Kāśī shoreline with ghāṭas and a distant Viśvanātha spire.
FAQs
Divine guidance is promised at life’s end: the Lord becomes the helmsman to deliver the soul from saṃsāra.
The verse implies Kāśī as the place where this end-time deliverance is especially assured, though it is not named explicitly.
No explicit ritual is stated; the focus is on grace at the ‘end’ (antakāla) and liberation.