History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.115

v5.c74.t2.115

Vārāṇasī is very dear to Śiva, it gives him joy and therefore it is called Ānandavana or Ānandakānana.¹⁴²³ It is also styled Śmaśāna or Mahāśmaśāna for various reasons. As a belief was entertained by all people that death in Banaras freed a man from *saṁsāra*, and as the thoughts and aspirations of pious Hindus ran in the direction of dying on the sacred soil of Banaras, the old and decrepit crowded therein and persons seriously ill got themselves removed or were removed to the banks of the Ganges when about to die and were cremated there. Cremation of corpses is always seen on the Maṇikarṇikā *ghāṭ* near the Ganges. A śmaśāna (cemetery) is considered impure but Banaras with the sacred Ganges was purest in spite of being always the cremation ground for thousands in a year.