Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 91
यत्र काश्यां शवत्वेपि जंतुर्नाशुचितां व्रजेत् । अतस्तत्कर्णसंस्पर्शं करोम्यहमपि स्वयम्
yatra kāśyāṃ śavatvepi jaṃturnāśucitāṃ vrajet | atastatkarṇasaṃsparśaṃ karomyahamapi svayam
ณ กาศี แม้ในสภาพดุจศพ สัตว์ผู้หนึ่งก็ไม่ตกสู่ความไม่บริสุทธิ์; เพราะเหตุนั้น เราจึงกระทำการสัมผัสที่หูของเขาด้วยตนเอง
Śiva (deduced from “I myself touch the ear,” aligning with the Kāśī tradition of Śiva granting the tāraka-mantra at death)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī (Viśveśvara-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devotees/ṛṣis within Kāśī-māhātmya frame (traditional: Skanda narrations to sages)
Scene: In Avimukta Kāśī near the cremation ground, Śiva compassionately leans toward a departing being and touches the ear, imparting the tāraka mantra; attendants and lamps glow against the riverine night.
FAQs
Kāśī is so sanctifying that even death does not generate spiritual defilement; divine grace directly guides the departing soul.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), especially as the place of Śiva’s liberating intervention at the time of death.
Karṇa-saṃsparśa (touching/ear-contact), understood in tradition as Śiva’s intimate bestowal of the liberating tāraka teaching at death.