31 - The Glory of Varanasi

This is the holiest place for Hindus. As a birth-place of Pārshvanātha. The 23rd Tirthankara of Jainas and that of Kāśhyapa Buddha and the place of Dharma-chakra-pravartana by Gautama Buddha, it is sacred both to Jainas and Buddhists. It was the capital of the kingdom of Kāśhis-- probably the same Aryan tribe mentioned as Kasrites in Central Asian inscriptions. The Kasis are mentioned in the Shatapatha Br. XIII. 5.4.21. The town is called Vārānasi as it is situated between two rivers' Varana (mod. Barņā) and Asi (vide V. 63 below). Being a highly sacred place, it has been eulogised and described in details in various Puranas such as the Mt. P. Chs. 180-185, NP. II. Chs. 48-51, Pd, P.I. Chs. 33-37, SK. P. IV (Kāshi Khanda) and others. The KP has devoted five chapters (Chs. 31-35) for describing the glory of Vārāṇasi. 

The sages said: 

1. We are eager to hear what the highly intelligent sage Krişhņa Dvaipayana did after arriving at the divine city of Varanasi. 

Sūta said: 

2. After reaching the divine city Vārāṇasi and performing ablution in Gangā, he worshipped Lord Shiva, Viśhveśhvara. 

3. On seeing that the sage Vyasa had come there, the sages who resided there, worshipped that leading sage. 

4. Bowing down to him all of them requested him to relate the meritorious story with reference to Mahādeva, that destroyed all sins. They asked him about the eternal holy rites leading to salvation. 

5. The omniscient, great and holy sage recounted to them the greatness of the Lord of Devas—the greatness based on piety as pointed out by the Vedas. *

*v.l. dharman veda-nidarshitan religious duties ordained in the Vedas." 

6. Among those leading sages Jaimini, the great sage and disciple of Vyāsa, asked Vyāsa about the eternal and mystic significance of those religious duties. 

Jaimini said: 

7. O holy sage, it behoves you, the omniscient one, to dispel one of our doubts. There is nothing which is unknown to you, the great sage. 

8-11. Some persons praise meditation. Others extol only Dharma (piety), some other people praise Sāṁkhya as well as Yoga, while other great sages emphasize penance. Certainly other great sages speak in praise about Brahmacharya (celibacy). Others speak highly of non-violence and yet others extol renunciation. Some praise mercifulness, charitable gifts and study of the Vedas. Others speak highly of pilgrimage to holy places and yet others praise the restraint of sense-organs. O leading sage, be pleased to explain to us which of them is preferable and most excellent. If at all there is anything else, it behoves you to tell even if it is a great secret. 

12. On hearing the words of Jaimini, Sage Krişhnadvaipāyana bowed down to the bull-bannered deity (Shiva) and said in a majestic tone. 

The revered Vyāsa said: 

13. O excessively blessed one, excellent, very nice. O sage, I shall explain what has been asked by you. It is the secret of secrets. May the other sages too hear it. 

14. This eternal perfect knowledge was explained by Ishvara formerly. It is a great secret disliked by non-intelligent persons but resorted to by men of subtle vision. 

15. This excellent knowledge, the best among all types of knowledge, should not be imparted to one who has no faith, nor to one who is not a devotee of Parameshthin; nor should it be given to one who is not the knower of Vedas. 

16. The goddess, seated on her divine seat on the peak of Meru asked Mahadeva, Ishäna, the enemy of the Tripuras.

The glorious Goddess said: 

17. O Mahādeva, O lord of Devas, O destroyer of the distress of devotees, how can a man perceive you, the lord, in a short while? 

18. O Shankara, the systems of Sāmkhya and Yoga, the penance, the meditation, the Vedic path of action and other things as well, they say, are very strenuous and tedious. 

19-20. O destroyer of Kama's body, for the welfare of all devotees, please expound that secret-most knowledge, resorted to by Brahmā and others, whereby the subtle lord will be visible to all embodied beings whether Yogins of great knowledge or men of confused minds. 

Ishvara said: 

21. This knowledge, excluded by (i.e. incomprehensible to) the ignorant, is of great mysterious meaning and is not to be revealed to anybody else. I shall explain it to you, precisely, as mentioned by great sages. 

22. The city of Varanasi is my secret-most holy centre. It is the cause that enables all living beings to cross the ocean of worldly existence. 

23. The great-souled devotees of mine who have taken to the observance of my vows and who adhere to those great observances, stay at that place. 

24. It is the most excellent of all holy centres; the best of all abodes; the most excellent of all types of knowledge; it is my sacred place Avimukta.¹ 

1. According to NP. II. 48, LP. 92.45.46, SK.P.IV. 26.27, this place (Vārānasi) was never vacated (even during Pralaya or the Deluge) by god Shiva and is hence called A-vimukta. LP.I.92.143 gives another strange derivation: avi=sin, mukta=free from. 'A place free from sins'. 

25. The holy centres and shrines situated in other places. in heaven, on earth and in cremation grounds are all found here. 

26. My abode is not in contact with the earth, it is in the firmament. Those who are not liberated do not perceive it; the liberated ones observe it through the mind. 

27. This city is known as Avimukta (not deserted by me). It is the well-known cremation ground.² O beautiful women; it is here that I annihilate this universe after becoming Kāla. 

2. Shmashana is another name of Varanasi, the explanation of which is given here. The verse is repeated in Pd. P. I. 33.14. This explanation is repeated in SK P. IV. 30.103-4. 

28. O goddess, of all my secret abodes, this is the most lovable to me. Whenever my devotees go here, they enter me alone. 

29. What is offered there as a charitable gift, the Japa performed there, the Homas, the Yajñas and the penances performed there, the meditation, the study of the Vedas and the knowledge pursued there all these shall be inexhaustible in benefit here. 

30. All sins accumulated previously in the course of thousands of births are annihilated, the moment one enters the holy centre of Avimukta. 

31-33. Brāhmaṇas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shūdras, those of mixed castes, women, people of alien outcaste origin, sinners of mixed castes, insects, ants, and all other animals and birds, O lady of excellent face, assume the form with the moon for crest jewel, the great bull for vehicle and possessing three eyes, if they die in Avimukta in due course of time.¹ O goddess, they will be born as human beings in my auspicious city. 

1. VV. Repeated in Mt. P. 181.17-21; Pd. P.I. 33.17-20. Cf. NP. II. 48.51-52. 

34. A sinner dying in Avimukta never goes to hell. All of them blessed by Iśhvara, attain the great goal. 

35. Realising that salvation is very difficult to achieve and the world is very terrible, a man should strike his feet with stone and stay on in Varanasi. 

36. O Parameśhvarī, it is very rare that a living being attains penance* there, but to him who dies there, the goal is conducive to liberation from worldly existence. 

*v.l. tapasă chapi pūtasya (to a person who though purified with penance, attainment of liberation from Samsāra is not easy if he dies at any other place except Vārāṇasi). 

37. O daughter of the lord of mountains, thanks to my grace, sin perishes here. But insensible men, deluded by my Māyā do not perceive it. 

38. Those who are deluded and enveloped by darkness do not perceive Avimukta. They enter in the midst of faeces, urine and semen again and again. 

39. If buffeted by hundreds of calamities, a person enters and stays at my city, he attains the highest beatitude from which there is no return, 

40. He enters the abode of Shiva that is free from birth, deaths and old age. That is the goal of those who seek salvation, who have no further fear of death. 

41-43. After attaining it a learned man shall feel that they have attained their objective in life and are contented. The excellent goal that is attained in Avimukta is not attained by means of charitable gifts, or by penances, or by Yajñas or even by learning. Learned men know that Avimukta is the specific and efficacious greatest penacea for those people of different castes, the casteless, the hated ones, the Chándalas and others, those who are full of serious and intense sins. 

44. Avimukta is the greatest knowledge, Avimukta is the greatest region, Avimukta is the greatest principle, Avimukta is the greatest and the most auspicious Bliss. 

45. At the end I bestow the greatest knowledge and the greatest region, on those who take an irrevocable vow of staying in Avimukta. 

46-48. These following holy and sacred places are well known in the three worlds-viz. Prayāga, the holy Naimisha forest, Shrīśhaila, the Himalaya, Kedāra, Bhadrakarņa, Gaya, Pushkara, Kurukshetra, Rudrakoți, Narmadā, Hāțakeśhvara, Saligrăma, Pushpägra, (v. l. Kubjāmra) Vamsha (?), Kokāmukha, Prabhāsa, Vijayeśhāna, Gokarna and Shankukarna.¹ 

1. Most of these holy places are known by their old names. Those which have changed their names or are less familiar are noted below: 

Bhadrakarna: (1) Karnāli, on the south bank of Narmada, famous for its Shiva shrine vide KP. II. 20-35.  -De 31

(ii) Rudrakoti: a sacred place (1) in Kurukshetra or (2) on the Narmada near its source at Amarakantaka -De 171

Hatakeshvara: A sacred place seventy miles to the south-east of Sidhpur in Ahmedabad district-De 71. Vāmana P. (37.78) locates it at Sapta-godavari in Andhra Pradesh. 

Kokamukha: Varaha kşhetra in Purnea district of Bengal, on the Triveņi (confluence of Koshis) above Nathpur-De. 191. 

Vijayeshāna: Probably the same as Vijayesha in Kāśhmira. It is one of the most famous Tirthas in Kāśhmira near Chakradhara (HD IV. 821) in Wular Pargana (?) 

Shankukarna-The Southern part of Varanasi-De 177 

49-50a. Those who die at Varanasi attain the greatest salvation. If one plunges in Ganga of triple streams (in heaven, Earth and Pātāla) especially at Vārāṇasī, the sins committed in hundreds of births are eliminated. 

50b-51a. Although Ganga and the performance of Shrāddha, charitable gifts, Japa, and other religious rites can be easily done at other places, it is rare that one gets the opportunity to do so at Varanasi. 

51b-52a. A man staying at Varanasi should perform Yajña and Homa everyday, offer charitable gifts and worship other deities and perform penance subsisting on the air only. 

52b-53a. Even if a sinner, a rogue and an impious man (were to visit Varanasi), his arrival at Varanasi will sanctify three generations of his family. 

53b-54a. Those who eulogise and worship Mahadeva at Varanasi should be known as freed from all sins. They will become Ganeshvaras, (the heads of Ganas or attendants of Shiva). 

54b-56a. At other holy centres, the greatest abode (Mokşha) is attained by means of a thousand births, through Yoga or knowledge or renunciation or through other means. But those devotees of the lord of the chief of Devas who stay at Varanasi, attain the great salvation even in a single birth. 

56b-57. One need not go to any other penance grove after reaching Avimukta where Yoga, perfect knowledge and salvation, are acquired in a single birth. It is called Avimukat because it is not deserted by me. 

58-59a. That is the secret of secrets. After knowing this one is liberated. O lady of fine eyebrows. The goal that is assigned for those who seek the greatest bliss and those who adhere to perfect knowledge and meditation, is attained by one who dies at Avimukta. 

59b-6la. All sorts of Avimuktas are mentioned by Devas forever. But the city of Varanasi is more auspicious than all those abodes. It is here that Mahadeva, Ishvara himself explains the Tarakabrahman (i.e. Brahman that enables one to cross the ocean of worldly existence). 

61b-62a. That great principle which is greater than the greatest is obtained in a single birth at Varanasi, O goddess. 

62b-63a. Just as Avimukta is stationed in between eye brows,¹ in the middle of the umbilical region, in the heart and in the head and in the sun itself, is situated at Varanasi. 

1. In Yoga, certain parts of the body are believed to be locations of certain holy centres. For example, Shri-parvata at the crest (head), Kedāra at the forehead, Varanasi between the eyebrows. The Jābāla darshanopanişhad gives the list as follows: 

Shri-parvatam shiras-sthāne Kedaram tu lalatake |

Vārānasi mahāprajña bhruvor ghränasya madhyame||

Kurukshetram Kucha-sthane, Prayagam hrut-saroruhe |

Chidambaram tu hrun-madhya adhāre kamalalayam||

Saints of Maharashtra like Ekanath, Tukārām look upon the body as the holy place called Pandharpura and the soul as Vitthala, the presiding deity thereof. 

63b-64. The city of Varanasi is located in between the rivers Varaņā and Asi. The principle of Avimuktaka is always present. In the past or future there never has been or will ever be a place greater than Varanasi. 

65-66a. Just as god Närāyaṇa, Mahadeva and Sun god* abide there, so do other gods along with Gandharvas, Yakshas, serpents and Rakshasas. God Brahmā, the grand-sire of the world and the god of gods always propitiates me there. 

*mahadevadiveshvarát is meaningless. It is emended as mahadevo diveshvarah|

66b-68. Those who have committed the Mahāpātakas (the great sins) and those who are greater sinners than they, attain the greatest goal after reaching Varanasi. Hence, o Mahādevī, he who seeks liberation should invariably reside in Varanasi till death. After securing perfect knowledge he is liberated. But there will be obstacles in the case of those whose minds are vitiated by sins. 

69. Therefore, one shall not commit sins physically, mentally or verbally. O excellent Brāhmaṇas, this is the secret of the Vedas and the Purāņas. 

70-71a. Perfect knowledge is dependent on Avimukta. I do not know anything greater than it. Even as Devas, the sages and Parameşhthin were listening, this has been recounted to the goddess by the Lord. It is destructive of all sins. 

71b-72a. Just as Nārāyana, the Supreme Person, is the most excellent of all Devas, just as Girisha is the most excellent of all Ishvaras, so also this (Varanasi) is the most excellent of all sacred places. 

72b-73a. Only those persons who had propitiated Rudra in their previous births do obtain the greatest holy centre Avimukta, the abode of Shiva. 

73b-74a. Those whose minds are vitiated by the sins of Kali age cannot perceive the abode of Parameşhthin. 

74b-75a. Those who always remember Käla and have access to this city, get their sins of here and hereafter, destroyed quickly. 

75b-76a. If those who settle here commit sins, Shiva the embodiment of Kāla, shall destroy them. 

76b-77a. Those who come to resort to this place, those who seek liberation, are not born again after death. They do not get submerged in the ocean of worldly existence. 

77b-78a. Hence, everyone should exert all means to stay at Varanasi whether he is a Yogin or a non-Yogin, whether he is a sinner or the most meritorious person. 

78b-79. If the mind is inclined towards Avimukta that should not be thwarted either due to the words of the public or of the parents or through the arguments of elderly persons." 

Sūta said: 

80. After saying this, the holy lord Vyāsa, the most excellent among the knowers of the Vedas, went to Varanasi along with his excellent disciples.