Crow Liberation at Purushottama

Purushottama Kshetra is the holy ground where liberation comes without the usual conditions. The Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa shows this through one event. A crow, a bird linked with the lower worlds, gained instant moksha (liberation) just by touching the holy waters of the kshetra. Yama then came to protest, and Lakshmī Devī explained the nature of the place to him.

The event

At Purushottama Kshetra, Brahmā himself saw something extraordinary. A crow (kāka) fell into the holy waters of the kshetra. The crow was not a devotee. It had done no tapas (austerity), no japa, no pilgrimage. It had come with no wish for liberation. It was simply a crow that came into contact with the holy place.

The moment it touched the waters of the kshetra, the crow was freed. Its ātmā (soul) was released entirely from the cycle of birth and death. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 2)

Yama’s protest

The freeing of the crow disturbed the order kept by Yama, the ruler of dharma and death. A crow by its nature belongs to the tamasic order, which is linked with dark tendencies, with the world of the pitṛs (ancestors) and with the lower lokas. When this crow was freed, Yama’s authority was passed by completely. Yama came to Purushottama to protest. He said that his rule over departed souls had been broken without good reason, because the crow had earned liberation by no recognised sādhanā (spiritual practice). (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 2)

Lakshmī’s explanation

Lakshmī Devī appeared at the kshetra and spoke to Yama directly.

She told him that inside Purushottama Kshetra, Yama’s authority over birth and death is set aside. This is not a breaking of dharma. It is the very nature of this kshetra. At this place, even contact with the divine that is unwilling, unaware or by chance gives moksha. The crow that fell into the waters was under the protection of the Svāmi’s own anugraha (grace), and at this kshetra the Svāmi’s anugraha works without conditions.

Lakshmī went on to say that a pāpa (sin) done at other tīrthas is destroyed at this kshetra, and a pāpa done at this kshetra is destroyed at the sea shore. The dust of the ratha (chariot) falling on a person destroys brahma-hatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa). Even a person who does not believe, if he sees the ratha yātrā (chariot procession) out of mere curiosity, gains faith and attains liberation. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 2)

The dāru mūrti

This account stands behind the later teaching about the dāru mūrti (the wooden form). Bhagavān Jagannātha chose to come down in the wooden form so that all beings, even those who have not done the hard work of dhāraṇā (steady focus), dhyāna (meditation) and tapas, obtain moksha through his darśana alone. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapters 2 and 23)

Brahmā as witness

Brahmā himself saw this event. The narrator, Jaimini, is telling what the creator of the world personally watched at the beginning of the time of Indradyumna. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 2)

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapters 2 and 23