Shloka 37
अविमुक्तक्षेत्रमाहात्म्य
The Greatness of Avimukta–Vārāṇasī and Viśveśvara
भैरवीं यातनां प्राप्य वर्षाणामयुते पुनः । ततो मोक्षमवाप्नोति भुक्त्वा पापं च सुन्दरि
bhairavīṃ yātanāṃ prāpya varṣāṇāmayute punaḥ | tato mokṣamavāpnoti bhuktvā pāpaṃ ca sundari
‘ഭൈരവീ’ എന്ന യാതന പത്തായിരം വർഷം അനുഭവിച്ച്, ഹേ സുന്ദരി, പാപഫലം ഭോഗിച്ച് ക്ഷയിപ്പിച്ച ശേഷം ജീവൻ മോക്ഷം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു।
Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Bhairava
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: Śiva teaches that even after severe post-mortem purification (Bhairavī yātanā), the soul attains mokṣa—echoing Kāśī’s Avimukta promise under Bhairava’s guardianship.
Significance: Bhairava as kṣetrapāla underscores moral order; yet the telos remains liberation through Śiva’s grace after karmic exhaustion.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: teaching
FAQs
The verse frames suffering as karmic purification: after the finite fruit of pāpa is fully experienced, the jīva becomes eligible for release, emphasizing Shiva’s governance of moral order and the eventual possibility of mokṣa.
In the Kotirudrasaṃhitā’s Jyotirliṅga-oriented context, it underscores that turning toward Saguna Shiva (as Liṅga/Jyotirliṅga) is the remedial path—devotion and right worship reduce bondage, while unrepented wrongdoing leads to karmic retribution before liberation becomes possible.
The practical takeaway is prāyaścitta through Shaiva sādhanā—steady japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” Liṅga-pūjā, and disciplined purity (often supported in Shaiva tradition by bhasma/tripuṇḍra and rudrākṣa) to burn pāpa and orient the mind toward mokṣa.