Piśācamocana is a holy tīrtha and Liṅga place in Kāśī. It lies to the north of Pitṛīśa. The Kapardīśa Liṅga stands here, set up by the Gaṇa leader Kapardin, and the Vimalodaka pit lies in front of it.

The place takes its name from the freeing of a piśāca (ghost), told in Chapter 54 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha). A Pāśupata ṛshi named Vālmīki bathed in Vimalodaka. He then met a piśāca of terrible look, who had been a brāhmaṇa of Pratishṭhāna and was doomed to be a ghost for taking tīrtha-pratigraha (gifts from pilgrims at holy places). The ṛshi gave the ghost holy ash (vibhūti), so that he could bathe in Vimalodaka. His ghost-state then fell away and he rose up in a divine body. From this the tīrtha got the name Piśācamocana, the one that frees piśācas.

Kapardīśa Liṅga and Vimalodaka

The Gaṇa leader Kapardin was a devoted servant of Bhagavān Śiva as Śambhu. He set up the Kapardīśa Liṅga to the north of Pitṛīśa. In front of the Liṅga he had a pit of water dug, called Vimalodaka, “pure water”. The very touch of its water takes away the impurities of those who come near. (Chapter 54)

The ṛshi Vālmīki and the ghost

In the Tretā Yuga, a Pāśupata ascetic named Vālmīki did tapas in worship of Kapardīśa. In the Hemanta season, in the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha, Vālmīki bathed in Vimalodaka at midday. He rubbed holy ash on his body, walked round the Liṅga in the Saṃhāra direction, and sang and danced in devotion before it.

Afterwards he sat on the bank of the lake. There he saw a terrible shape: a ghost of fearful look, thin to skin and bones, with sunken eyes and loose hair, showing every sign of great want. The ṛshi was strong through his Pāśupata practice. He asked the ghost with kindness about its state.

The piśāca told his story. In life he had been a brāhmaṇa at Pratishṭhāna, on the bank of the Godāvarī. He lived by tīrtha-pratigraha, taking dāna from pilgrims at holy places. The account says this is a harmful way to live for one’s karma. For this reason he was doomed to wander as a piśāca in a desert with no water and no food.

Once he had tried to take hold of a young brāhmaṇa who had neglected his Sandhyā rites. But when the youth came by chance into the bounds of Kāśī, the ghost was thrown out of his body at once. By the order of Bhagavān Śiva, piśācas and great pāpas (sins) cannot enter the city. Since then the ghost had waited at the border, unable to find food or water anywhere. (Chapter 54)

Freed by vibhūti and a bath

The ṛshi Vālmīki felt for the ghost and told him to bathe in Vimalodaka. The ghost cried that even water ran away from him. The ṛshi then put vibhūti, holy ash made holy by the name of Bhagavān Śiva, in the ghost’s hand. He told him to put it on his forehead. Guarded by the holy ash, the devas of the water no longer kept him back. The ghost plunged into Vimalodaka. When he came out, his state as a piśāca was gone. He had a divine body, wore divine garlands, was rubbed with divine scents, and rode a divine vehicle. As he rose into the sky, he said:

“From today onwards this tīrtha shall be known as Piśācamocana — through ablution, it shall eradicate the piśācahood of others as well.”

(Chapter 54)

Puṇya and the yearly festival

The freed ghost named the puṇya (merit) of this tīrtha:

Those who bathe at Piśācamocana, and offer rice balls with sesame (tila-piṇḍas) and water, will free their pitṛs (ancestors) and grandfathers who have fallen into the state of piśāca.
Men who make the pilgrimage here every year are freed from the pāpa of taking tīrtha-pratigraha.
One who bathes here, worships Kapardīśa and then gives cooked food becomes fearless everywhere.
Yearly festival: the fourteenth lunar day (caturdaśī) of the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha.
Those who bathe here before Kapardīśa on that day will not become piśācas even if they die elsewhere.
Feeding a single Śivayogin at Piśācamocana gives the puṇya of feeding ten million.
Hearing this chapter is said to protect one from attack by goblins, ghosts and vampires. A traveller who hears this account will not be attacked by thieves, tigers or piśācas on the road.

(Chapter 54)

Among the sixty-eight holy spots

Chapter 69 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa says that the Kapardīśvara Liṅga at Piśācamocana came from the great Cagalaṇḍa tīrtha. It is one of the sixty-eight holy shrines that Nandin brought together at Kāśī. Each of them holds the full power of a great holy place elsewhere in Bhārata. (Chapter 69)

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 54.
Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 69.