Avimukta Māhātmya in the Matsya Purāṇa

Avimukta is the sacred kshetra (field) of Bhagavān Śiva at Vārāṇasī, also called Kāśī. Chapters 179 to 184 of the Matsya Mahā Purāṇa praise it in a series of talks: Bhagavān Śiva to Pārvatī, Nandikeśvara to Sanatkumāra, Skanda to the four Sanaka brothers, and Bhagavān Śiva’s own telling of how Brahmā lost his fifth head.

This section of the Matsya Purāṇa shows the power of Avimukta to give moksha (liberation), the five main tīrthas (pilgrimage places) inside it, and its power to remove even brahmahatyā (the pāpa, or sin, of killing a brāhmaṇa). It also tells that Bhagavān Śiva never leaves this kshetra.

Harikeśa and the first description (Chapter 179)

The Avimukta Māhātmya begins after the account of Harikeśa Yaksha, son of Pūrṇabhadra. Harikeśa did tapas (austerity) in Vārāṇasī. Bhagavān Śiva gave him the offices of Gaṇeśvara, giver of food (anna-dāta) and guardian of the kshetra (kshetrapāla), under the name Piṅgala.

Then Bhagavān Śiva turned to Pārvatī and described Avimukta. He said:

The kshetra is two and a half yojanas long and half a yojana wide.
The holy Gaṅgā flows through it.
“I never leave this kshetra, not in any age and not at pralaya (the dissolution of the world).”
Every being who dies inside its boundaries receives the tāraka-brahma (the mantra that carries across) from Bhagavān Śiva’s own lips and reaches moksha.

Nandikeśvara and Sanatkumāra (Chapter 180)

The ṛshi Sanatkumāra, one of the four eternal youths of Brahman-knowledge, born from the mind of Brahmā, came to Nandikeśvara. Nandikeśvara is Nandī, the great bull and gaṇa (attendant) of Bhagavān Śiva, his close servant and gatekeeper. Sanatkumāra asked what Avimukta is and why it matters. Nandī taught him two things.

Bhagavān Śiva’s sthāṇu form

Avimukta is the place where Bhagavān Śiva stays in his sthāṇu-rūpa, his still and unmoving form. Sthāṇu means a post or pillar. Bhagavān Śiva shows this form at Kāśī for all time.

The tāraka-brahma

When a person dies in the Avimukta kshetra and the prāṇas (life-breaths) are leaving, Bhagavān Śiva himself whispers the tāraka-brahma into the person’s right ear. This is the praṇava (Oṃ) in its liberating form. Heard at the moment of passing, it settles the jīva (the living being) in Brahman.

The result does not depend on the person’s earlier karma, the purity of their practice or the manner of their death. The tāraka-brahma from Bhagavān Śiva’s lips gives moksha. Avimukta is the one place in the three worlds where moksha is certain at death.

Skanda and the Sanaka brothers (Chapter 181)

The four ṛshis Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumāra and Sanātana came to Skanda (Kārttikeya) with their questions about Avimukta. Skanda taught:

Inside Avimukta both paths lead to moksha: the yoga-mārga (the path of meditation and inner experience) and the jñāna-mārga (the path of liberating knowledge).
The one who practises yoga finds the inner stillness of Bhagavān Śiva as Sthāṇu rising within. The one who follows jñāna finds the kshetra’s stored wisdom helping to dissolve avidyā (ignorance).
The kshetra has fixed boundaries. The river Varaṇā is the northern boundary and the river Asī is the southern boundary. The name Vārāṇasī comes from these two rivers, Varaṇā and Asī.
Inside this space the grace of the kshetra overrides gathered karma and guarantees moksha for those who die there.

Devī asks, and the fifth head of Brahmā (Chapter 182)

Pārvatī asked Bhagavān Śiva: “Among all the kshetras of the three worlds, why is Avimukta the highest? Where does its power to remove even the gravest pāpa come from?”

Bhagavān Śiva answered by telling how Brahmā lost his fifth head.

Brahmā’s fifth head

In an earlier age Brahmā had grown a fifth head, turned toward Śatarūpā. Bhagavān Śiva was displeased and struck off this fifth head.

The cut skull carried brahmahatyā. It stuck to Bhagavān Śiva’s hand at once. No force could remove it, and no rite could loosen it.

The wandering

Bhagavān Śiva walked through all the tīrthas of the earth of seven dvīpas (island-continents), hoping to be freed. Each tīrtha said it could not remove a brahmahatyā so great. Mountain tīrthas, river tīrthas and ocean tīrthas were all tried. The skull stayed on his hand through all of them.

Freedom at Maṇikarṇikā

At last Bhagavān Śiva came to the Avimukta kshetra and to the sacred pool of Maṇikarṇikā. He bathed in its water. The skull fell from his hand, and the brahmahatyā was gone, at once and completely.

Bhagavān Śiva’s declaration

Bhagavān Śiva then said to all: “This kshetra of Avimukta has the power to remove even brahmahatyā, the worst of the mahāpātakas (great sins), for which no other prāyaścitta (atonement) is enough. It is the kshetra that takes away the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa. Whoever dies here is freed from all gathered pāpa, however great.”

This is how Avimukta received its highest place: Bhagavān Śiva himself was freed here from the gravest pāpa.

The Varāha Purāṇa also tells of this episode, saying that Bhagavān Śiva cut the head with his left thumbnail and wandered over the earth of seven dvīpas. The Skanda Purāṇa tells it in its Kāśī Khaṇḍa. All these accounts have the fifth head, the skull that sticks to the hand, the wandering and the freedom at Kāśī.

Vyāsa and the alms (Chapter 183)

The ṛshi Vyāsa, also called Kṛshṇadvaipāyana, walked through Vārāṇasī one day asking for bhikshā (alms of food) from the householders. He went through the whole city, and no householder gave him food. His patience ran out, and he decided to curse the whole city.

Bhagavān Śiva saw this from his place in Avimukta. At once he took the form of an ordinary householder of the city. In that form he invited Vyāsa to his home and gave him a rich and satisfying meal.

While eating, Vyāsa saw the divine presence behind the ordinary form. He knew that the householder serving him was no common man. He bowed in reverence to Bhagavān Śiva in this disguise. His decision to curse was gone. He left with thanks and reverence.

The five main tīrthas of Avimukta (Chapter 184)

Bhagavān Śiva named the five tīrthas that make the full Avimukta pilgrimage when visited in order. The pilgrim who visits them in this order receives the full guarantee of moksha that the kshetra gives.

Viśveśa Liṅga. The chief Śivaliṅga of Kāśī, the liṅga of Viśveśvara, ruler of the universe. It is the first and highest tīrtha. Bhagavān Śiva stays here in his sthāṇu form. To see Viśveśvara (darśana) is itself a taste of moksha.
Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha. The bathing ghāṭ where ancient kings performed ten aśvamedha yajñas (horse sacrifices). One who bathes here gains the puṇya (merit) of those ten great yajñas.
Lolārka. The tīrtha of Bhagavān Sūrya inside the city, a place for Sūrya pūjā.
Bindu-Mādhava. The tīrtha of Bhagavān Vishṇu in Kāśī, where Madhusūdana (Vishṇu) stays as Bindu-Mādhava.
Maṇikarṇikā. The highest tīrtha of Avimukta. Here Bhagavān Śiva’s earring (maṇikarṇa) fell, and here his skull fell during his wandering, ending the brahmahatyā. At Maṇikarṇikā Bhagavān Śiva whispers the tāraka-mantra into the right ear of those who die on its banks.

Summary of the teachings

Size. The kshetra is 2.5 yojanas by 0.5 yojana, between the Varaṇā in the north and the Asī in the south.
Śiva’s presence. Bhagavān Śiva stays in his sthāṇu form and never leaves the kshetra.
Moksha at death. Bhagavān Śiva himself whispers the tāraka-brahma at the moment of death in the kshetra.
Freedom from brahmahatyā. This is the one kshetra that removes even this pāpa, because Bhagavān Śiva was freed of it here.
The pilgrimage. Viśveśa, Daśāśvamedha, Lolārka, Bindu-Mādhava, Maṇikarṇikā.

Sources

Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 179 (Harikeśa; Bhagavān Śiva’s description of Avimukta)
Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 180 (Nandikeśvara and Sanatkumāra)
Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 181 (Skanda and the Sanaka brothers)
Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 182 (Pārvatī’s question; Brahmā’s fifth head)
Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 183 (Vyāsa in Vārāṇasī)
Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 184 (the five tīrthas)
Varāha Purāṇa (the similar account of the skull)
Skanda Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa (its own account)