Kāśī

Kāśī, also called Vārāṇasī or Banāras, is the most sacred city in the Purāṇas. It lies on the western bank of the Gaṅgā in Uttar Pradesh. It is the eternal city of Bhagavān Viśvanātha (Bhagavān Śiva), and Bhagavān Vishṇu lives here as its antaryāmin (inner controller). It is a mukti-kshetra, a field of liberation, where even those who have done the gravest pāpa (sin) are freed. It is also the seat of the Viśveśvara Jyotirliṅga, the seventh of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas, and one of the seven most sacred cities (saptapurī) of Bhārata.

The Purāṇas tell of two great events set here. Bhagavān Śiva was freed from brahma-hatyā at the Kapālamocana tīrtha. And it was ordained that any being who dies within the boundaries of Kāśī receives moksha directly.

Kāśī as a field of liberation

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 96) shows Kāśī as a city outside the ordinary rules of karma and rebirth. Bhagavān Vishṇu lives here as the antaryāmin. Bhagavān Śiva lives here as Viśvanātha, the lord of all worlds. Together they make a field of such strong śakti that any being who dies within the boundaries of Kāśī, in an act of devotion or by accident, hears the Tāraka mantra (the liberating mantra) whispered into the ear by Bhagavān Śiva himself, and reaches moksha. The Purāṇa says that even those who have done brahma-hatyā, cow-slaughter, betrayal of the guru and other mahā-pātakas (great pāpas) are freed if they die in Kāśī.

Geography and names

According to the Śiva Purāṇa (Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 22), Kāśī stands on the western bank of the Gaṅgā. At this point the river curves so that it flows from south to north. A devotee who faces east to the sunrise also faces the Gaṅgā. The sacred ghāṭs line the bank and go down in stone steps to the water.

The city lies between two smaller rivers: the Varuṇā to the north and the Asī to the south. This gives the name Vārāṇasī. The name Kāśī comes from kāś, “to shine”: the city that shines with the divine light of Bhagavān Śiva.

Kāśī before creation

The Śiva Purāṇa (Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 22) says that Kāśī came before the universe. When Bhagavān Śiva began creation, he was living at Kāśī. The city is not set in the created universe as other places are. It rests on the tip of the trident of Bhagavān Śiva, above and beyond the cycles of creation and dissolution.

When mahāpralaya (the great dissolution) comes and all the worlds dissolve, Kāśī alone remains, held on the trident. At the next creation it is set down again and the universe is built around it. So Kāśī is the most lasting place in all creation.

The Kāśī Khaṇḍa repeats this teaching. Kāśī is held on the tip of the trident of Bhagavān Śiva at the time of pralaya. The city does not sink. It stands on the earth but is not of the earth. In Chapter 5, Agastya laments in these words: how can anyone leave Kāśī, whose puṇya has been shown both by the scriptures and by Bhagavān Śiva himself, and which is held up on the tip of the trident of Bhagavān Śiva, the destroyer of Kāma (the deva of love), even in the time of annihilation?

The Avimukta-kshetra

Kāśī is called avimukta, the place that Bhagavān Śiva never leaves. He may withdraw from other places, but he stays at Kāśī always. The Śiva Purāṇa (Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 23) says that this unbroken presence makes Kāśī unlike any other tīrtha.

The Agni Purāṇa

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 112) gives the māhātmya (glory) of Vārāṇasī in the words of Parameśvara, who speaks to Pārvatī. Bhagavān Śiva says: “I shall never abandon this kshetra, and for this very reason it bears the name Avimukta.”

The eight secret tīrthas. The Agni Purāṇa names eight tīrthas inside the Avimukta-kshetra as paramaguhyānīya, supremely secret. They are Hariścandra, Āmātakeśvara, Japyeśvara, Śrīparvata-mahālaya, Bhṛgu, Caṇḍeśvara, Kedāra and Kapālamocana. They are very hidden and show themselves to those of great puṇya and devotion.

The boundaries. The Avimukta-kshetra is two yojanas long and half a yojana wide. It is bounded by the rivers Varaṇā and Asī, and from these two the name Vārāṇasī comes. Every act of dharma done within these bounds gives both bhukti (worldly good) and mukti (liberation). These acts are snāna (bathing), japa, homa, death, worship of the devas, śrāddha, dāna and even simply living there. The Purāṇa also says that even with broken legs, lying unable to move, one should not leave Kāśī, so high is its holiness.

Imperishable fruit. All japa, tapas and homa done within the Avimukta-kshetra give akshaya-phala, imperishable fruit. Those who live in Kāśī with faith (śraddhā) and remember the name of Śrī Hari obtain both bhukti and mukti. The name of Śrī Hari, chanted in Kāśī, has a special power in the field of Bhagavān Śiva.

The Kūrma Purāṇa

The Kūrma Purāṇa (Poorvardha, Chapters 29–35) shows Kāśī as the highest goal to which Vyāsa points Arjuna as Kaliyuga begins. At the end of their meeting Vyāsa tells Arjuna that in Kaliyuga only Vārāṇasī, the city of Bhagavān Śiva, can destroy all pāpa and be the one refuge of dharma. Vyāsa himself then goes to Kāśī to live there and to worship Bhagavān Śiva (Chapters 29–30).

The discourse to Pārvatī (Chapters 31–35). Jaimini and the ṛshis at Kāśī ask Vyāsa about the best means of liberation. Vyāsa tells them what Parameśvara once taught Pārvatī on the summit of Meru. In Chapter 31 Bhagavān Śiva says:

“This Vārāṇasī is my own abode, a kshetra of supreme and secret majesty. It holds all the tīrthas of sky and earth within its form as a cremation ground (śmaśāna). It is called Avimukta because I never abandon it. One who enters the Avimukta-kshetra is freed from the pāpa of countless births. All varṇas, mixed jātis, mlecchas, even insects and birds, whoever dies here at the last moment, are reborn bearing the marks of Śiva himself. No pāpī who dies in the Avimukta-kshetra goes to naraka. All receive the grace (anugraha) of Śiva and the state of moksha. When a being breathes its last here, the deathless Parameśvara whispers the tāraka-brahma into the ear at the very moment of death, and that alone gives liberation, whatever the earlier karma. The kshetra is bounded by the rivers Varaṇā and Asī, and from those two the name Vārāṇasī comes. Within this field every dāna, tapas, japa and homa gives akshaya-phala. Even living here, once one has reached the Avimukta, is enough for moksha in one birth. What cannot be reached in a thousand births elsewhere is reached here in one.”

The liṅgas of Kāśī. When Vyāsa comes to Kāśī he visits several sacred liṅgas in turn. The Kūrma Purāṇa names them as the secret places of Bhagavān Śiva in Vārāṇasī, which can be known only by his grace.

• Oṃkāreśvara liṅga (Chapter 32). This is the pañcāyatana liṅga at the river Macchodarī, the size of a cowskin, always worshipped by siddhas and brahmarshis. Vyāsa worships it and explains the pañcārtha of pāśupata-jñāna that the Oṃkāra-liṅga holds. Remembering this liṅga alone destroys all pāpa.
• Kṛttivāseśvara liṅga (Chapter 32). Bhagavān Śiva appeared from this liṅga to protect brāhmaṇas from a rākshasa in the form of an elephant. He killed the rākshasa with his śūla (trident) and put on the elephant hide. So he is named Kṛttivāsa, the wearer of hide. Whoever takes refuge at Kṛttivāseśvara and lives in Vārāṇasī reaches moksha in one birth.
• Kapardīśvara liṅga (Chapter 33). This is called the highest and most secret liṅga of Kāśī. Near it is the Piśācamocana kuṇḍa. A deer killed by a tiger in the grounds of Kapardīśvara at once took a divine form and was carried to Śiva-loka, and Vyāsa and his disciples saw it. Vyāsa explains that brahmahatyā and all other mahāpātakas are destroyed by worshipping Kapardīśvara. Bathing in the Piśācamocana kuṇḍa also destroys all pāpa.
• Madhyameśvara liṅga (Chapter 34). Vyāsa visits it after years at Kapardīśvara.
• Viśveśvara liṅga (Chapters 34–35). This is the chief mahāliṅga form of Bhagavān Śiva. Vyāsa finally returns here to live for good.

The text also lists many sacred tīrthas in Vārāṇasī, among them Maṇikarṇikā, Kapālamocana (where the pāpa of brahmahatyā is dissolved), Lolārka, Kedāra, Trilocana, Someśvara and others (Chapter 34).

The Kūrma Purāṇa also tells how a piśāca was freed through the grace of the Kapardīśvara kshetra, together with the stotra to Bhagavān Śiva by Śaṅkukarṇa.

Vyāsa’s home in Kāśī and Pārvatī’s grace (Chapter 35). After years of pilgrimage to all the tīrthas of Kāśī, Vyāsa sent his disciples away and settled in Vārāṇasī for good. He bathed at the three sandhyās, did pūjā to Bhagavān Śiva and lived on alms (bhikshā). Once no alms came, and Vyāsa got ready to curse the city. Devī Pārvatī herself came in human form, gave him alms, and gently scolded him for his anger (krodha). When Vyāsa saw who she was and bowed to the ground, Devī Pārvatī forgave him. She gave him leave to enter Kāśī on the Caturdaśī and Ashṭamī tithis. From that day Vyāsa lived near Kāśī, and the learned who heard of this have honoured the kshetra ever since.

The Uttarardha (Chapters 30 and 42). The Uttarardha of the Kūrma Purāṇa says plainly that Kāśī is ten thousand koṭi times greater than all other tīrthas put together. No tīrtha on earth, in any of the seven dvīpas, can be compared with Vārāṇasī in the power to give liberation.

It also names the best fruit of the Śatarudrīya at Kāśī. Those who recite the Śatarudrīya without a break, as a way of life, and who are at Vārāṇasī at the moment of death, receive moksha directly from Parameśvara. Kāśī is also the one place that dissolves brahmahatyā. The Kapālamocana tīrtha here is the ground where the skull of Kālabhairava finally fell, and where the brahmahatyā-dosha of Kālabhairava was fully dissolved. This event is why Kāśī alone can dissolve even the gravest mahāpātakas.

The prāyaścitta (atonement) teaching of the Uttarardha names bathing at Kāśī as a substitute for the full twelve years of carrying a skull as atonement for brahmahatyā.

The Liṅga Purāṇa

The Liṅga Purāṇa speaks of Kāśī in two places in its great stotras.

In the stotra that Śrī Hari Vishṇu sings to Parameśvara when the Jyotirliṅga appears (Chapter 18), he greets Bhagavān Śiva with these words:

Īśānāya śmaśānāya

That is: to Īśāna, to the cremation ground, to the one of great speed, to the one of swift form. The commentary on this stotra explains that Kāśī, the greatest cremation ground (mahāśmaśāna), is the own form of Parameśvara. So the Liṅga Purāṇa shows Kāśī as the direct showing of the true nature (svarūpa) of Parameśvara, and not only as the place where he lives. Kāśī is the eternal śmaśāna where all creation is burnt in the fire of consciousness of Bhagavān Śiva, as a funeral pyre burns the body (Pūrvārdha).

The stotras of the Liṅga Purāṇa also say, as the Agni Purāṇa does, that Kāśī is the Avimukta-kshetra, the field that Bhagavān Śiva never leaves. Those who recite the great stotras of the Liṅga Purāṇa near a Śivālaya reach Kailāsa. Kāśī is also named as one of the Śiva-sthalas found in every dvīpa and every mountain (Pūrvārdha).

The Nārada Purāṇa

The Uttarardha of the Nārada Purāṇa (Chapters 48–51) gives a long Kāśī Māhātmya, told by the purohita Vāsu to Mohinī. It deals with the Avimukta-kshetra, the sacred liṅgas and tīrthas in the city, and the great power of the Pañcanada tīrtha.

A Vishṇu-kshetra and a Śiva-kshetra (Chapter 48). Vāsu begins: “Kāśī-pura is auspicious and blessed. Śiva lives here, who got this kshetra from Śrī Hari by earnest request. He lives here worshipping Hṛshīkeśa Vishṇu and being praised by all the devas.” So Kāśī is both a Vishṇu-kshetra and a Śiva-kshetra. Even those guilty of brahmahatyā, gohatyā, betrayal of the guru, betrayal of a friend, nyāsa-apahāra (keeping what was left in trust) and nishiddha-karma (forbidden acts) are freed if they die in this kshetra. Those who reach Kāśī through the sukṛta (good deeds) of past lives, and die here honoured among devas and dānavas alike, reach the highest state (paramapada).

The shape of Avimukta (Chapter 48).

• Size: 2.5 yojanas from east to west and half a yojana from north to south. It lies between the river Varaṇā on the north and the river Asī, a dry stream, on the south.
• The three nāḍīs: the Idā, called Saumyā, flows where Keśava lives (the Varaṇā side). The Sushumnā flows through the middle, called Mātodari and also Viśvara. The three together make the cosmic resonance that makes Avimukta so liberating.
• Its special quality: the Avimukta-kshetra has never been left and never will be left, and this is why it is called Avimukta. For liberation it is higher even than Prayāga, because liberation here comes without effort, with no tapas needed.

Even pāpa done within the Avimukta-kshetra becomes puṇya. The dust of Avimukta, carried by the wind, purifies even the worst pāpīs it touches. One who lives in Avimukta and eats only once a day for a month does the equal of the Mahāpāśupata-vrata and passes beyond fear of birth and death.

The Tāraka mantra at death (Chapter 48). At the moment of death, Śrī Rāmacandra himself, the antaryāmin and soul of Avimukta, whispers the tāraka-mantra (the nāma-mantra) into the right ear of the dying person. This alone gives moksha, whatever the earlier karma. Dimicaṇḍīśvara and the other dvārapālas (gatekeepers) of the kshetra also whisper this mantra into the ear at the moment of death. Not one person who dies in the Avimukta-kshetra goes to naraka. All receive the grace of Īśvara (Īśvarānugraha) and the highest good (śreyas).

The liṅgas (Chapters 49–50). The Uttarardha lists the chief liṅgas and the fruit of each.

• Maṇikarṇikā tīrtha. The greatest śmaśāna and yoga-pīṭha of Kāśī. Dhūrjaṭi Śiva is always present here. Bathing at Maṇikarṇikā gives the puṇya of the Daśāśvamedha. A lamp offered here (dīpadāna) lights the senses with the light of jñāna. Offering incense (dhūpa-dāna) wins the seat of Rudra. Setting free a four-year-old bull here gives moksha.
• Kṛttivāseśvara. The famous liṅga of Bhagavān Śiva at Kāśī, known by a different name in each yuga: Tryambaka in Kṛtayuga, Kṛttivāsa in Tretā, Maheśvara in Dvāpara and Hastipāleśvara in Kali. Darśana alone destroys the pāpa that tapas cannot destroy. The one who killed a brāhmaṇa is freed through this darśana.
• Avimukteśvara. Rākshasas once seized a Śiva-liṅga and were carrying it away. As they passed this place, a rooster’s crow at dawn frightened them and they fled, leaving the liṅga. Bhagavān Śiva himself had willed that he should not be parted from the Avimukta-kshetra. The devas then named him “Avimukta”, and this name gives moksha to all who hear it.
• Oṃkāreśvara liṅga. It stands near the river Matsyodarī. Bathing in the Matsyodarī-Gaṅgā and taking darśana of Oṃkāreśvara makes the devotee Oṃkāreśvara himself. The three syllables of Oṃkāra match three sacred stations: a-kāra leads to Vishṇu-loka, u-kāra is where Bṛhaspati reached siddhi, and ma-kāra is where the muni Kapila reached siddhi.
• Gopreksheśvara. This is Viśveśvara, who appeared when Bhīshma was here worshipping the Pañcāyatana. Cows that were being burned in a forest fire found shelter here and drank the waters, and the kshetra became the Kapilāhrada. Bhagavān Śiva here is called Vṛshadhvaja.
• Saṃgameśvara. Brahmā set up this liṅga at the saṃgama (meeting) of the Varaṇā and the Gaṅgā. The Kapālamocana event is linked to the moment when the Gaṅgā joined the Matsyodarī. At that sacred meeting, the skull (kapāla) of Bhagavān Śiva fell free.

Nine Caṇḍikās and the Vināyakas (Chapter 50). The Uttarardha names nine Caṇḍikās who guard the eight directions and the centre of the Avimukta-kshetra.

These devīs protect the devoted and put obstacles (vighna) in the way of those full of pāpa. The text also lists the Vināyakas to be worshipped on Caturdaśī tithis: Ḍuṇḍi, Gopreksha-Vināyaka, Hasti-Vināyaka, Sindūrya and others. The prescribed offering is modakas.

The Pañcanada tīrtha (Chapter 51). The Uttarardha’s most special teaching is on the Pañcanada tīrtha, the meeting of five sacred rivers within Kāśī. The five rivers are Kiraṇā, Dhūta (Dhūtapāpa), Sarasvatī, Gaṅgā and Yamunā. Bathing at the Pañcanada:

• breaks through the brahmāṇḍa-maṇḍapa (the shell of the cosmic egg), the rarest of all spiritual gains;
• equals bathing at Prayāga in the month of Māgha;
• gives, even in a single drop of Pañcanada water offered in pitṛ-tarpaṇa, support to the ancestors for as many years as the number of tila (sesame seeds) given;
• frees ancestors who are in hard yonis (births) when a descendant does śrāddha at the Pañcanada;
• gives sons even to a barren woman who bathes at the Pañcanada for one year while worshipping Maṅgalagaurī.

Bindusarovara, a lake within Kāśī, was raised to the rank of Pañcanada by being bathed with 108 Pañcāmṛta-kalaśas. Five sips (kucchā) of Pañcanada water give complete purification.

The Uttarardha teaches that in each yuga a different tīrtha was the great purifier. In Kṛtayuga it was Dharmanada, in Tretāyuga Dhūtapātaka, in Dvāpara Bindutīrtha and in Kali Pañcanada. So Pañcanada is the highest tīrtha of the present age within Kāśī.

The phalaśruti (Chapter 51). The Uttarardha ends with a full phalaśruti. Even one who killed a brāhmaṇa, one who drank liquor (madhu-pāyī), one who stole gold (svarṇa-cora) and one who lay with the guru’s wife (guru-talpa-gata) are all purified by hearing this Avimukta-māhātmya. A brāhmaṇa who hears it becomes a master of the Veda (Veda-pāraga). A kshatriya wins in battle. A vaiśya becomes rich. A śūdra reaches the company of the devotees of Vishṇu. One who reads or hears this māhātmya obtains the fruit of all yajñas and all tīrthas.

The text says this māhātmya may be given only to devotees of Vishṇu, devotees of Śiva, devotees of the Jagajjananī, devotees of Sūrya, devotees of Vināyaka, and those who serve their guru with devotion. Giving it to the deceitful, to critics, or to those who hate the cow, the brāhmaṇa or the guru brings destruction on the teacher himself.

The Vāmana Purāṇa

The Vāmana Purāṇa (Chapters 2, 3 and 16) adds more to the account of Vārāṇasī.

The account of Kapālamocana is in Chapters 2 and 3. After Bhagavān Śiva cut off the fifth head of Brahmā in the quarrel before the yajña of Daksha, he wandered as the Kapālī (skull-bearer) through all the tīrthas of Bhārata. None of them could dissolve the brahmahatyā. Bhagavān Vishṇu sent him to Vārāṇasī and told him that only the Avimukta-kshetra of Bhagavān Śiva himself has the power to dissolve what no other tīrtha can. When Bhagavān Śiva entered Vārāṇasī, the skull fell by itself from his palm and the pāpa was dissolved. This is how the Kapālamocana tīrtha was made.

Chapter 16 tells more of the sacred geography of Vārāṇasī. The Lolārka tīrtha is told of in connection with Bhagavān Śiva’s restoring of Sūrya, after Bhagavān Śiva had burned him for destroying the city of the rākshasas who had followed dharma. The place in Vārāṇasī where Sūrya was restored became Lolārka, sacred to the worship of Sūrya in the city. Chapter 16 also says that Bhagavān Śiva whispers the tāraka mantra into the ears of the dying at Vārāṇasī, the same teaching as in the Kūrma and Nārada Purāṇas.

The Śiva Purāṇa

The Śiva Purāṇa (Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 22–23) gives the teaching of the tārakabrahma upadeśa. Bhagavān Śiva himself whispers the liberating mantra (tārakabrahma) into the ear of every being who dies within the boundaries of Kāśī. This direct teaching dissolves all gathered karma and places the jīva directly in moksha, whatever the karma, conduct, jāti or spiritual practice of the dying person in life. The kind of liberation given is usually called sāyujya, complete union with Bhagavān Śiva. Death at Kāśī gives the same liberation as lifetimes of spiritual practice.

The teaching of the Avimukta-kshetra and of the tārakabrahma upadeśa is the highest sign of the unconditional grace of Bhagavān Śiva. It is set into the geography of creation so that it reaches even those who cannot come to Bhagavān Śiva by their own effort.

The tīrthas of Kāśī in the Śiva Purāṇa (Chapter 22).

• Maṇikarṇikā Ghāṭ. The most sacred cremation ghāṭ of Kāśī and of all Bhārata. It is named for the earring (maṇikarṇikā) of Bhagavān Śiva or of Satī that fell here. Bodies burned at Maṇikarṇikā receive the tārakabrahma directly. The fire at Maṇikarṇikā never goes out.
• Daśāśvamedha Ghāṭ. Ten aśvamedha yajñas were done here, by Brahmā or by king Divodāsa. Bathing here equals doing ten aśvamedha yajñas.
• Viśvanātha Temple. The central shrine of Viśveśvara, which holds the seventh Jyotirliṅga.

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa: Dīvodāsa and Avimukta

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa (Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 67) tells how Kāśī was for a time empty, and how it was given back.

Nikuṃbha’s curse. Nikuṃbha was a yaksha chief linked with Kāśī, whose shrine stood in the city. During the rule of Dīvodāsa, king of Kāśī, the shrine of Nikuṃbha was removed. Nikuṃbha, in anger, pronounced a śāpa (curse) on Kāśī: all beings living in the city would be driven out, and the city would lie empty, a sacred place without worshippers.

Dīvodāsa’s rule of an empty Kāśī. After the śāpa of Nikuṃbha, all the people of Kāśī were driven away. Bhagavān Śiva, who had vowed to live in Kāśī for ever as its antaryāmin, was forced by the śāpa to leave for a time. He lived instead on Mandara mountain, outside the city. In this time Dīvodāsa ruled over a Kāśī emptied of its divine dwellers.

The shrine of Gaṇeśa. Among the shrines disturbed in this time was a shrine of Gaṇeśa within the Avimukta-kshetra. The Purāṇa says this shrine was removed from the kshetra during the rule of Dīvodāsa.

The restoration of Avimukta. Through the śaraṇāgati (taking refuge) and tapas of his devotees, Bhagavān Śiva took back Kāśī. The Avimukta-kshetra was restored to its sacred state, all those driven out came back, and the city again became the eternal home of Śiva and Vishṇu. The son of Dīvodāsa was Pratardana, who carried on the line.

The Skanda Purāṇa: Kāśī Khaṇḍa

The Kāśī Khaṇḍa is the longest and most authoritative text given wholly to the glory of Kāśī. Its Poorvārdha (the first 50 chapters) covers the whole sacred history, theology and layout of the Avimukta-kshetra.

Origin of Avimukta and Maṇikarṇikā (Chapter 26). According to the Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Bhagavān Śiva made the Avimukta-kshetra before the universe existed, as his pleasure-ground before creation. At the same time he made Śakti and named the kshetra Ānandavana, the Forest of Bliss. Then he made Vishṇu from his left side. Vishṇu dug the Cakrapushkariṇī pond with his discus (cakra) and did tapas on its banks for fifty thousand years. Bhagavān Śiva came to see him and shook his head in approval. His jewelled earring (maṇikarṇikā) fell into the pond. So this tīrtha was named Maṇikarṇikā. Vishṇu also named the kshetra “Kāśī”, for its unspeakable brilliance. He asked that all beings, from Brahmā down to a blade of grass, reach moksha here.

Kālabhairava as koṭvāl of Kāśī (Chapter 31). The Kāśī Khaṇḍa tells its own account of Kālabhairava. Brahmā on Meru claims to be supreme. The four Vedas speak for Bhagavān Śiva. The fifth head of Brahmā answers the Vedas with pride. Bhagavān Śiva makes Kālabhairava, who cuts off the fifth head. Brahmahatyā clings to Kālabhairava, and he wanders through all the worlds. The moment he enters Kāśī, Brahmahatyā cries out and sinks into Pātāla, and the skull of Brahmā falls from his hand. Kālabhairava sets himself for ever at the Kapālamocana tīrtha as the koṭvāl (chief guardian and keeper of order) of Kāśī. He eats the pāpa of devotees and protects the righteous who live there. He is to be worshipped on Kṛshṇa Ashṭamī, on Caturdaśī, on Sundays and on Tuesdays.

Gaṅgā Māhātmya and the Sahasranāma (Chapters 27–29). The Kāśī Khaṇḍa gives these chapters to the great importance of the Gaṅgā for the city. She is the own Śakti of Bhagavān Śiva in the form of water. In Kaliyuga she alone is the means of liberation. All tīrthas, all Vedas and all devas live in subtle form within her waters. Chapter 29 holds the full Gaṅgā Sahasranāma, the thousand names of the Gaṅgā.

Dīvodāsa’s rule and the Āditya shrines (Chapters 43–50). These chapters tell of the fully righteous rule of Dīvodāsa over Kāśī while Bhagavān Śiva was away at Mandara. In Chapter 44 Bhagavān Śiva grieves at the parting, in one of the most tender passages of the Purāṇas. All the agents of Bhagavān Śiva sent to remove Dīvodāsa (Gaṇeśa, Skanda, the sixty-four Yoginīs and Sūrya) stayed on in Kāśī as lasting residents and set up sacred shrines: Lolārka, Uttarārka, Sāmbāditya, Draupadāditya, Mayūkhāditya and Khakholkāditya.

The seven moksha-purīs and the tīrtha discourse (Chapters 6–7). These chapters hold Agastya’s talk to Lopāmudrā on the nature of tīrthas: Prayāga as Tīrtharāja (king of tīrthas), the seven moksha-purīs, and the mānasa (inner) tīrthas. These are truth (satya), forgiveness (kshamā), self-control (dama), kindness (dayā), straightness (ārjava), giving (dāna), calm (śama), contentment (santosha), brahmacarya, knowledge (jñāna), tapas and purity of mind (mano-śuddhi).

The Skanda Purāṇa: Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha (Chapters 51–100)

The Uttarārdha of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Chapters 51–100) carries the sacred history of Kāśī on from the reign of Dīvodāsa to the triumphant return of Bhagavān Śiva and his last declaration of the greatness of the Avimukta-kshetra.

The departure of Dīvodāsa (Chapters 56–58). After Gaṇeśa, Skanda, the sixty-four Yoginīs and Sūrya had all stayed in Kāśī as lasting residents, Gaṇeśa was sent again, this time disguised as an old brāhmaṇa astrologer. With his māyā he spread fear among the citizens by telling of bad dreams and giving ill astrological signs, so that many left. He also won the trust of the palace through the queen Līlāvatī, and told King Dīvodāsa that a wise brāhmaṇa would come from the north on the eighteenth day.

At the same time Vishṇu entered Kāśī. He set up the Pādodaka Tīrtha at the meeting of the Varaṇā and the Gaṅgā, and set up the image of Ādikeśava. Then he went partly outside the city to the north, to Dharmakshetra, taking the form of a Buddhist teacher named Puṇyakīrti. In this disguise Vishṇu quietly weakened the Vedic order of the city. On the eighteenth day Vishṇu as Puṇyakīrti came to Dīvodāsa as the promised brāhmaṇa. He praised him greatly and gently pointed out his one fault: he had kept Viśveśvara away from Kāśī. He told the king to set up a Liṅga as atonement.

Dīvodāsa set up the Dīvodāseśvara Liṅga at Bhūpālaśrī, spending all the wealth of his victories. On the seventh day after that, a divine aerial chariot came down from svarga. The attendants of Bhagavān Śiva dressed Dīvodāsa with the marks of Bhagavān Śiva himself: three eyes, a blue throat, serpent ornaments and a crescent moon. He was taken to the world of Bhagavān Śiva.

Ḍhuṇḍhi Vināyaka and the fifty-six Vināyakas (Chapter 57). On his return to Kāśī, Bhagavān Śiva praised Gaṇeśa in public with the Sarvasaṃpatkara stotra and named him Ḍhuṇḍhi, “one who searches for what his devotees need and gives it”. He said: “One who bows to Ḍhuṇḍhi first and then to me, I whisper the Tāraka mantra into his ear at death.” Bhagavān Śiva named fifty-six Vināyakas, placed by Gaṇeśa in seven rings around the Viśvanātha temple as eternal guardians of the Avimukta-kshetra.

The sixty-eight holy places gathered in Kāśī (Chapter 69). Nandī told Bhagavān Śiva that sixty-eight great shrines from all over the universe had gathered in Kāśī to live there for good. Among them were Sthāṇu from Kurukshetra, Mahākāla from Ujjayinī, Paśupati from Nepāla, Śaśibhūshaṇa from Prabhāsa, Mahābala from Gokarṇa, Lakulīśvara from Kāyārohaṇa, and Kṛttivāsas from Ekāmbara (Kāñcī). The Kāśī Khaṇḍa teaches that bathing at any of these gathered tīrthas in Kāśī gives more puṇya than at the original tīrtha itself.

The protecting devīs of Kāśī (Chapter 70). Nandī set up Viśālākshī and more than forty other protecting devīs at fixed places throughout Kāśī. Among them were Lalitā at Lalitā Ghāṭa, Viśvabhujā in front of Viśālākshī, Aindrī, Kaumārī, Māheśvarī, Narasiṃhī, Brāhmī, Nārāyaṇī, Virūpākshī, Bhīmacaṇḍī at the northern gate, Svapneśvarī, and Durgā as the southern guardian. Each had a set place, work and festival day.

Durgā and the origin of her name (Chapters 71–72). The daitya Durgāsura, born of Ruru and made safe against humans, conquered all three worlds. Kālarātri, the messenger of Devī Bhavānī, killed thirty thousand daityas with her sound HŪṂ. In the battle that followed, Devī Bhavānī made nine koṭi Śaktis from her body. She fought Durgāsura in his elephant, buffalo and thousand-armed forms, and pierced him through the heart with a great arrow. The devas sang the Vajrapañjara kavaca in her praise. She then said: “From today my name will be Durgā.” She was set up as the lasting southern guardian of Kāśī.

The fourteen supreme liṅgas. The Uttarārdha names fourteen supreme liṅgas as the chief forms of Bhagavān Śiva in the Mukti-kshetra:

1. Viśveśvara (highest of all)
2. Oṃkāreśvara, also called Praṇaveśvara
3. Trilocana, also called Trivishṭapa
4. Kṛttivāseśvara
5. Vīreśvara
6. Daksheśvara
7. Dharmeśvara
8. Kāmeśvara
9. Prahasiteśvara
10. Kedāreśvara
11. Viśvakarmeśvara
12. Jyeshṭheśvara
13. Amṛteśvara
14. Vyāseśvara

The Pañcatīrthī circuit. These are the five highest tīrthas of Kāśī. Going to all five on pilgrimage destroys all gathered karma.

1. The meeting of the Asī and the Gaṅgā (in the south)
2. Daśāśvamedha Ghāṭa
3. Pādodaka (the meeting of the Varaṇā and the Gaṅgā, near Ādikeśava)
4. Pañcanada (the meeting of five rivers)
5. Maṇikarṇikā

Vyāsa’s teaching on conduct in Kāśī (Chapters 95–96). Vyāsa came to Ādikeśava, declared the greatness of Hari, and was sent on to Kāśī by the ṛshis. When Nandī made Vyāsa’s arm stiff because he came to the Jñānavāpī with pride, Vishṇu gave back his voice, and Vyāsa composed the eight-verse Vyāsāshṭaka. The Vyāseśvara Liṅga was set up. Bhagavān Śiva then tested Devī Pārvatī by coming as a beggar brāhmaṇa. She appeared as a housewife, fed ten thousand disciples, and taught Vyāsa the highest dharma of those who live in Kāśī: complete service to Bhagavān Śiva and to his city above all else.

Śiva’s return and crowning (Chapter 98). On Kārttika Śukla Prathama, Bhagavān Śiva came down from Mandara with Devī Pārvatī, with all the devas in a great procession: Vishṇu, Brahmā, Viśvakarmā, Gaṇeśa, Nandī and the whole assembly of devas. Brahmā did the abhisheka (royal anointing) of Bhagavān Śiva as the sovereign lord of Kāśī. Vishṇu asked: “Let me not be far removed from your feet.” Bhagavān Śiva granted: “Stay for ever near me here. If someone comes to me without first pleasing you, his wish will not be fulfilled through me.” For this reason the nearness of Bindumādhava to Viśveśvara is needed for the full pilgrimage of Kāśī.

The supremacy of Viśveśvara: the three essentials (Chapter 99). In the last chapter, Bhagavān Śiva sat in the Śṛṅgāra Maṇḍapa, with Brahmā on his right and Vishṇu on his left. He raised his right hand and showed the Viśveśvara Liṅga to all who had gathered. In forty-eight verses he declared the fruit of every act of worship given to this self-manifested (svayambhū) Liṅga. Hearing about it destroys the pāpa of one birth. Touching it gives the puṇya of a thousand Rājasūyas. Offering a single camphor-wick lamp once makes one three-eyed. His highest declaration:

“Lifting up my hand, I say again and again: in this world that has the three Vedas, only three things are essential: the Viśveśa Liṅga, the water of Maṇikarṇikā, and the city of Kāśī. This is the truth, a threefold truth.”

After saying this before all the devas, Bhagavān Śiva himself did the worship of the Viśveśvara Liṅga and merged into it.

The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa: Krīḍā Khaṇḍa

The Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa (Chapters 38–53) gives Kāśī a Kṛtayuga side to its sacred history. It shows the city as the place of Gaṇeśa’s own home in Kṛtayuga, and the place where the lasting guarding circle of the Shaṭpañcāśat Vināyakas was set up.

Mahotkaṭa lives in Kāśī (Chapter 38). King Kāśirāja, who had received Kāśī as his kingdom, asked Mahotkaṭa (the Kṛtayuga avatāra of Gaṇeśa) to live there for good. Mahotkaṭa agreed and lived in Kāśī as its divine protector during Kṛtayuga. His presence raised the already supreme holiness of the city.

Varada Vināyaka and Gaṇeśatīrtha (Chapters 38–39). During Mahotkaṭa’s stay, a form of Varada Vināyaka was set up within the sacred ground of Kāśī. The place linked with the divine presence of Mahotkaṭa became known as the Gaṇeśatīrtha, one of the sacred bathing places of Kāśī.

The Shaṭpañcāśat Vināyakas (Chapters 39–43). When the asura Dairāsada, son of Bhasmāsura, attacked Kāśī, Mahotkaṭa made fifty-six forms from his own tejas and placed them in seven rings of eight around the city. This made the lasting guarding circle called the Shaṭpañcāśat Vināyakas. At the centre of all seven rings he set up Ḍhuṇḍhirāja as the highest guardian of Kāśī. This Kṛtayuga setting-up is the origin of the fifty-six Vināyakas whom the Kāśī Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa later describes as honoured by Bhagavān Śiva on his return to the city.

Kāśirāja’s journey through the worlds (Chapters 49–53). After many years of Mahotkaṭa’s stay in Kāśī, Kāśirāja was taken by the gaṇas Pramoda and Āmoda on a journey through all the lokas. He went from the world of bhūtas and pretas through Amarāvatī, the realm of Yama, Vaikuṇṭha and Kailāsa, and at last to Svānandabhuvana, the own world of Gaṇeśa beyond all, in the Ikshusāgara. Kāśirāja stayed there near Gaṇeśa for koṭi kalpas.

The Mahābhārata: the corpse-test and Saṃvarta

The Aśvamedhika Parva (Chapter 6) holds a Kāśī episode within the Saṃvarta-Maruttīya ākhyāna. Nārada tells King Marutta that the hidden ṛshi Saṃvarta is wandering through Vārāṇasī in the dress of a madman, seeking darśana of Maheśvara in his own way. He can be known by one test. Place a corpse (śava) at the gate of the city and watch who turns back from it. Whoever reaches that spot and turns away is Saṃvarta, for he will not step past a corpse. Marutta did exactly this, knew Saṃvarta at the city gate, and followed him to win him as his yājaka (priest for the yajña).

A gloss within the text explains the deeper reason, which bears on the māhātmya of Kāśī. To see a śava at the edge of the city is itself a kind of darśana of Maheśvara, since it is Rudra who whispers the tāraka-brahma to every being at the moment the prāṇa leaves the body, above all at Kāśī, the Avimukta-kshetra. The corpse stands in some way for the presence of Maheśvara himself, and Saṃvarta’s refusal to pass it shows the respect due to that presence.

The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa tells a closely related version of this corpse-test, with Saṃvarta hiding at Vārāṇasī from a king named Marutta (Marutt), and its own outcome.

Sources

• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 96
• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 112
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 29–35
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 30 and 42
• Liṅga Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha (Chapter 18, the stotra of Vishṇu)
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 48–51
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 22–23
• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 67
• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 2, 3 and 16
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 1–100 (Chapters 5, 6–7, 26, 27–29, 31, 43–50, 56–58, 69, 70, 71–72, 95–96, 98 and 99 cited above)
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa (the Saṃvarta episode)
• Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 38–53
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 6