Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
गंगायां च सकृत्स्नातो हयमेधफलं लभेत् । तर्पयंश्च पितॄंस्तत्र तारयेन्नरकार्णवात्
gaṃgāyāṃ ca sakṛtsnāto hayamedhaphalaṃ labhet | tarpayaṃśca pitṝṃstatra tārayennarakārṇavāt
گنگا میں ایک بار بھی اشنان کرنے سے اشومیدھ یَجْن کا پھل ملتا ہے؛ اور وہاں پِتروں کو ترپن پیش کر کے انہیں دوزخ کے سمندر سے پار اتار دیتا ہے۔
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Scene: A pilgrim bathes in Gaṅgā at a Kāśī ghāṭa; beside him he offers tarpaṇa—water streams through fingers; above, ancestors appear relieved, rising from a dark ocean-like abyss into light.
FAQs
The Gaṅgā concentrates immense sacrificial merit; simple, sincere rites there can equal grand Vedic sacrifices and aid one’s ancestors.
The Gaṅgā (especially the bathing and tarpaṇa context associated with Kāśī’s riverfront).
Sakṛt-snānā (bathing even once) in the Gaṅgā, and pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water oblations to ancestors) performed there.