Shloka 5
अवंतीस्थ-ब्राह्मणकथा तथा तृतीय-ज्योतिर्लिङ्गोपाख्यान-प्रस्तावना
Avanti Brahmin Narrative and Prelude to the Third Jyotirliṅga
अवंती नगरी रम्या मुक्तिदा सर्वदेहिनाम् । शिवप्रिया महापुण्या वर्तते लोकपावनी
avaṃtī nagarī ramyā muktidā sarvadehinām | śivapriyā mahāpuṇyā vartate lokapāvanī
Kota Avantī yang indah menganugerahkan moksha kepada semua makhluk yang berjasad. Dikasihi Śiva, amat besar pahalanya, ia tegak sebagai penyuci segala alam.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahākāla
Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara
Sthala Purana: Avantī (Ujjayinī) is praised as Śiva-priyā and mokṣa-pradā. In the Mahākāla kṣetra-māhātmya stream, Śiva abides here as Mahākāleśvara, making the city itself a liberating field (kṣetra) where devotion and worship culminate in grace.
Significance: Kṣetra-māhātmya: residence/visit, darśana, and worship in Avantī are extolled as leading to pāpa-kṣaya and mokṣa; the verse explicitly calls it ‘muktidā sarvadehinām’.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: liberating
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
It proclaims Avantī as a Śiva-loved kṣetra whose sanctity supports mokṣa: by contact with Śiva’s holy field, the bound soul (paśu) is purified and oriented toward liberation through grace and devotion.
Kotirudrasaṃhitā emphasizes Jyotirliṅga-kṣetras; calling Avantī “Śiva-priyā” signals that Saguna worship of Śiva through the Liṅga in this sacred geography is a direct means of purification and release.
A practical takeaway is kṣetra-sevā: pilgrimage, Liṅga-darśana and abhiṣeka, and japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” undertaken with bhakti for inner purification leading toward mokṣa.