Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 27
गया तीर्थं च यत्प्रोक्तं पितॄणां हि मुक्तिदम् । पितामहानामृणतो मुक्तास्तत्तनया अपि
gayā tīrthaṃ ca yatproktaṃ pitṝṇāṃ hi muktidam | pitāmahānāmṛṇato muktāstattanayā api
గయాతీర్థం పితృదేవతలకు ముక్తిని ప్రసాదించేదిగా ప్రకటించబడింది. పితామహుల ఋణం తీరినప్పుడు వారి సంతానమూ ముక్తులుగా చెప్పబడుతుంది।
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Gayā-tīrtha
Type: ghat
Listener: Sadharmiṇī (contextual interlocutor)
Scene: At the Phalgu riverbank, a devotee offers piṇḍas with kusa grass and water; behind, subtle luminous forms of ancestors rise upward, their faces softening; a Viṣṇu footprint/Viṣṇupada motif anchors the scene.
FAQs
Serving and liberating one’s ancestors through dharmic obligations is a powerful spiritual duty; Gayā is upheld as uniquely effective for pitṛ-mukti.
Gayā-tīrtha, famed for ancestral rites and the liberation of pitṛs.
Implied rather than stated: pitṛ-kriyā such as śrāddha, piṇḍadāna, and tarpaṇa at Gayā to discharge pitṛ-ṛṇa.