taraka-mantra
तारकमन्त्र taraka-mantraThe 'ferryboat' or crossing-over mantra that, by tradition, Shiva whispers into the ear of those who die in Kashi, carrying the soul across the ocean of rebirth to liberation.
Where this term appears
- The daughter of the mountain Treatise
The taraka mantra ferries the soul across an ocean that is, in the tradition's images, this very river widened to the width of death.
- The jewelled earring Treatise
…he greatest darshan , the final seeing and being seen, the moment the taraka mantra is whispered and the ferry pushes off.
- The never-forsaken Treatise
The taraka mantra we met in the last chapter, the sound that carries the soul across, is here delivered at an inner ford, in the subtle geography of the seeker, at the seam of heaven and earth behind the forehe…
- Varanasi, the one city you go to die Treatise
At the moment of death within Kashi, it says, Shiva himself bends to the ear of the dying and whispers the taraka mantra.