History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.117

v5.c74.t2.117

The Skanda says . ¹⁴²⁴ ' *śma* ' means a corpse and ' *śāna* ' means ' lying down '; when the end of the world comes, the great elements lie here as corpses and therefore this place is called Mahāśmaśāna. " The Padmapurāṇa ¹⁴²⁵ makes Śiva say . ' Avi-mukta is a famous cemetery becoming the Destroyer ( or the Time Spirit ) I being here destroy the world '. Matsya very frequently speaks of Vārāṇasī as Śmaśāna. The Kāśīkhaṇḍa states : if a man after reaching the great cemetery dies there by fate he has never again to lie in the cemetery ( i. e. he is not born again ).