Brahmāvarta

Brahmāvarta · brahma-āvarta, “the land of Brahmā”

Brahmāvarta is the holy land between the two deva-rivers, the Sarasvatī and the Dṛshadvatī. The Saro Māhātmya of the Vāmana Purāṇa says that this land was made by the devas themselves, and it is called Brahmāvarta. It lies in the sacred country of Kurukshetra, and the Saro Māhātmya was itself told there: Romaharshaṇa Muni was seated in the Kurujāṅgala kshetra, between the rivers Sarasvatī and Dṛshadvatī, when the brāhmaṇas asked him the glory of the holy lake.

Brahmāvarta is also a tīrtha in the pilgrim’s round of Kurukshetra. One who bathes in Brahmāvarta becomes a brahmajñānī (a knower of Brahman) and gains death at the time of his own choosing; and bathing in the Brahmāvarta tīrtha, praised by the munis, surely gives brahma-prāpti, the attainment of Brahman.

The land made by the devas

Romaharshaṇa tells the glory of Kurukshetra after the Sarasvatī has entered it at Rantuka. A man, pure or impure, gains purity within and without by merely remembering Kurukshetra, and by merely saying, “I will go to Kurukshetra; I will dwell there,” his pāpa (sin) is destroyed. Four kinds of mukti (freedom) are declared: from brahmajñāna, from śrāddha at Gayā, from death in a go-graha (in the defence of cattle), and from dwelling in Kurukshetra.

In the midst of this praise he says: the land between the two deva-rivers, the Sarasvatī and the Dṛshadvatī, is made by the devas, and it is called Brahmāvarta. One who, even while living far away, says constantly, “I will go to Kurukshetra, I will stay there,” is freed of all pāpas; and those who bathe in the lake there and live on the bank of the Sarasvatī without doubt gain brahmajñāna. The devas, ṛshis and siddhas always serve Kurujāṅgala, and for that reason they are able to see Brahman within themselves.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 1, 12

The Brahmāvarta tīrtha

In the round of tīrthas that Romaharshaṇa teaches the brāhmaṇas, Brahmāvarta is named twice, one after the other, with the tīrtha of the Rantuka dvārapāla between them:

  1. After the Devī tīrtha in the Saṅginī tīrtha, the pilgrim bathes in Brahmāvarta. He becomes a brahmajñānī and gains death at will (svecchā-maraṇa). There is no doubt of it.
  2. From there he goes to the Rantuka dvārapāla, the mahātmā Yakshendra, fasts and bathes in that Yakshendra’s Sarasvatī tīrtha, and by the yaksha’s grace gains the fruits he desires.
  3. From there he goes to the Brahmāvarta tīrtha, praised by the munis. Bathing there, he surely gains brahma-prāpti, the attainment of Brahman.

From the Brahmāvarta tīrtha the round goes on to Sutīrthaka, the eternal dwelling of the devas and the pitṛs (ancestors).

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 14

Sources

  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 1, 12, 14