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
اگر کوئی اس مقدس مقام (کاشی) میں گناہ کرتا ہے، تو وہ پہلے یقیناً عذاب جھیلتا ہے؛ اس کے बाद ہی اسے نجات حاصل ہوتی ہے۔
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.