Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 58
Avimukta-Māhātmya — Vyāsa in Vārāṇasī and Śiva’s Secret Teaching of Liberation
यानि चैवाविमुक्तस्य देहे तूक्तानि कृत्स्नशः / पुरी वाराणसी तेभ्यः स्थानेभ्यो ह्यधिकाशुभा
yāni caivāvimuktasya dehe tūktāni kṛtsnaśaḥ / purī vārāṇasī tebhyaḥ sthānebhyo hyadhikāśubhā
جميع المواضع المقدّسة التي قيل إنها قائمةٌ كلّها في جسد «أفيموكتا» قد بُيّنت تمامًا؛ غير أنّ مدينة فاراناسي هي أزيدُ بركةً ويُمنًا من تلك المقامات نفسها.
Narrator (Purāṇic dialogue voice, within the Kurma Purana’s kṣetra-māhātmya context)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By presenting Avimukta as a “body” containing sacred stations, the verse uses an inner–outer correspondence: holiness is not merely geographic but reflects an indwelling sacred reality, implying that the highest sanctity is tied to the ever-present divine principle rather than to dispersed locations alone.
While not prescribing a technique directly, the verse supports a yogic hermeneutic common in the Kurma Purana: mapping tīrthas onto the body encourages inward contemplation (deha-kṣetra-bhāvanā), turning pilgrimage into interiorized practice aligned with Shaiva disciplines and purificatory sādhanā.
By exalting Kāśī/Avimukta—classically associated with Śiva—within a Purāṇa that also integrates Vaiṣṇava frames, the verse exemplifies the Kurma Purana’s synthetic stance: supreme auspiciousness is affirmed through Śaiva kṣetra-glory without negating broader Purāṇic unity.