Welcome to Moksha in Kashi(varanasi)

Death is celebrated and Dead-body is Woshiped

          The only time she flows north is at Kashi, when she alters her divine course just to wash the banks of the holy city. Here she is Gangamaiyya, the mother who nourishes the very soul of Kashi, nurturing its life, sanctifying its rituals and gathering up its dead. Being holy in untold ways, Kashi is then the holiest tirtha or ford across samsara, the river of life. A visit to any tirtha bestows punya on the pilgrim; but a visit to this city bestows spiritual benefit beyond measure. The rites and rituals of dharma get magnified manifold in Kashi. It is said that an upvasa or fast for three days in Kashi equals thousands of years of asceticism. Kashi is also the most blessed of the saptapuri or the seven holy cities that grant moksha or eternal escape from the cycle of life and death. The other six cities, however, can only offer indirect liberation - if you die there, you are reborn for the last time in Kashi. The ultimate guarantee of moksha comes only from dying in Kashi, for Kashivam maranam muktiha or death in Kashi is liberation. And this is because Kashi is thrice-blessed. It is holy in its very existence as the City of Light; it is washed eternally by the heavenly Ganga; and it is only here that Shiva himself whispers the taraka mantra in the ears of the dying.
           The taraka or ferryboat mantra contains the ultimate wisdom that will help one cross the river of samsara and only those who die in Kashi get the ultimate blessing of Shiva's revelation. However, Kashi is not indiscriminate in its promise of liberation. Shiva's trusted lieutenant Kala Bhairava wields the bhairavi yatana or Bhairava's Punishment to accord each his just desserts. You experience, in a moment, the fallout of your entire karma - you live countless births and rebirths in a split second. Cleansed to the soul in that one moment, you are then able to face Shiva when he bends down to whisper the secret mantra of release. For centuries, people have thronged Kashi to live here until they die. And it is not just the mumukshus or those who have renounced the world, who come here; it is also the householder who has discharged his worldly responsibilities and now wants to steep himself in piety until he dies.
          It is also the widow, who has no role left in the family after her husband's death and who comes to Kashi to wait till she can join him. But, not everyone who comes seeking the grace of death in Kashi can be sure of getting it. Shiva has forsaken the job of running the unmitigated sinner out of Kashi to Dandapani, the gana who is the sheriff of Kashi. He shapes circumstances to ensure that the unworthy leave the city precincts before they die. Death in Kashi is a blessing and not everyone can be blessed. It is this city, policed by Dandapani, governed by Kala Bhairava, illumined by knowledge, loved by Shiva and eternally washed by Ganga that is Kashi. The town bound by geographical grid-points is not the real Kashi.

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