Shloka 36
अविमुक्तक्षेत्रमाहात्म्य
The Greatness of Avimukta–Vārāṇasī and Viśveśvara
यातनां सोनुभूयैव पश्चान्मोक्षमवाप्नुयात् । पातकं योऽविमुक्ताख्ये क्षेत्रेऽस्मिन्कुरुते ध्रुवम्
yātanāṃ sonubhūyaiva paścānmokṣamavāpnuyāt | pātakaṃ yo'vimuktākhye kṣetre'sminkurute dhruvam
ഈ അവിമുക്ത (കാശി) ക്ഷേത്രത്തിൽ പാപം ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ ആദ്യം നിശ്ചയമായും യാതനകൾ അനുഭവിക്കുന്നു; അതിനുശേഷം മാത്രമേ അവൻ മോക്ഷം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നുള്ളൂ.
Suta Goswami (narrating the kshetra-mahatmya to the sages of Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: In Avimukta, even a sinner is not finally abandoned: after undergoing appropriate yātanā (purificatory retribution), Śiva’s kṣetra-dharma culminates in mokṣa.
Significance: Kāśī is portrayed as a grace-field where karmic purification is accelerated and final liberation is assured after due exhaustion of pāpa.
Role: liberating
FAQs
It teaches that Avimukta is a Shiva-protected kṣetra where even heavy karmas are forced to ripen quickly as suffering, and once exhausted, the soul becomes fit for Shiva’s liberating grace (mokṣa).
Avimukta is upheld as a realm of Saguna Shiva’s living presence; devotion and surrender to Shiva (often through Linga worship) are implied as the saving context in which karmic purification culminates in liberation.
A practical takeaway is repentance and purification in a Shiva-kṣetra—Linga-darśana, japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), and disciplined conduct—so that karmas are purified rather than multiplied.