Viśveśvara: The City on the Trident

The One who wished to be two

Now, Sūta told the sages, I will tell you the glory of Viśveśvara, the Lord of the Universe — a glory that destroys even the greatest sins. Listen.

The Purāṇa begins before anything was made. Whatever we see in the world, it says, is at heart consciousness and bliss, changeless and eternal. That one Supreme, without a second, was content in its own aloneness. Then it wished to have a second form — and so the formless became the Lord with qualities, the one who is called Śiva.

That one became two, as male and female. The male was called Śiva, and the female was called Śakti. And from these two — unseen, made of consciousness and bliss — there came forth, by their own nature, Prakṛti and Puruṣa: Nature and the Person.

But Prakṛti and Puruṣa could not see the mother and father who had made them, and they fell into great doubt. Then a voice came from the formless Supreme, speaking out of the sky: Do tapas, both of you. From that, the best of creations will come.

A city to do tapas in

Lord Śiva, they answered, there is no place for tapas. Where are we to stay and do tapas, as you command?

So the formless Śiva made a city. It hung in the sky, furnished with everything needed, the very essence of all radiance — a beautiful, auspicious city five krośas across. The Purāṇa says that this city was his own form. And he sent it to where Puruṣa was.

Puruṣa — who here is Viṣṇu — settled in that city. Longing to create, and meditating on Śiva, he did tapas for a very long time. From the effort of his tapas many streams of water poured from his body, until the whole empty space was filled and nothing at all could be seen.

Viṣṇu looked about him. What wonder is this? he thought, and at the sight of it he shook his head. As he did, a jewel (maṇi) fell from his ear (karṇa) and dropped in front of him. That place became the great tīrtha called Maṇikarṇikā.

Meanwhile the five-krośa city had begun to sink into the great waters. At once the formless Śiva caught it up and held it on his trident.

The worlds are made, and Kāśī is kept apart

Then Viṣṇu lay down to sleep there, together with Prakṛti, his consort. At Śaṅkara's command Brahmā appeared from the lotus of his navel, and with Śiva's leave Brahmā made a wonderful creation: the fourteen worlds within the cosmic egg, which the sages say is five hundred million yojanas across.

But Śiva thought: the beings in this egg will be bound by their own deeds. How will they ever reach me? So he kept the five krośas apart from the rest of the cosmos.

This Kāśī, the Purāṇa says, brings blessing to the world. It destroys the bondage of karma, makes the truth of liberation shine, gives knowledge, and is dearer than anything to Śiva. In it the Supreme Śiva himself set up the liṅga called Avimukta, the Never-Forsaken, and said to it: You are a portion of my own self. Never leave this field of mine.

Having said this, Sadāśiva lifted Kāśī down from his trident and set it in the world of mortals.

And it is never destroyed. When one day of Brahmā comes to an end and everything else dissolves, Śiva takes Kāśī up again on his trident; and when Brahmā creates the world anew, Śiva sets it down again. Kāśī, the Purāṇa says, brings good to the world, wears away every bond of karma and makes the way to liberation shine clear.

The city where no one is turned away

The liṅga called Avimukteśvara stays in Kāśī forever, and it frees even those guilty of the gravest sins. In other holy places, the Purāṇa says, a person may win the lesser kinds of liberation — such as having a form like the Lord's. Here beings receive the highest kind, sāyujya: union with him.

For those who have no other refuge anywhere, there is the city of Vārāṇasī. Its five krośas are full of merit and wipe out even crores of killings. The gods themselves long to die here — so what need is there to speak of others? Dear to Śaṅkara, this city always gives both the joys of the world and liberation.

Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the siddhas, the yogīs, the sages and all who live in the three worlds sing its praise. I could not tell the whole glory of Kāśī in a hundred years, Sūta said; still, I will tell what I can.

Rudra and Avimukta ask Śiva to stay

Then the Purāṇa tells of a meeting. The Lord of Kailāsa — the one said to be sattva within and tamas without, who is known as Kālāgnirudra, Rudra of the fire at the end of time — is Śiva himself, formless yet appearing with form. This Rudra bowed again and again to Śaṅkara and spoke.

Viśveśvara, Maheśvara, said Rudra, I am yours — there is no doubt of that. Mahādeva, be gracious to me, your son, together with the Mother. Lord of the world, for the good of all beings, live here always and lift everyone up. This is my prayer.

Then Avimukta too — the liṅga, its mind and senses held still — prayed to Śiva again and again. Tears fell from its eyes as it spoke, full of joy.

God of gods, Mahādeva, it said, you are the best medicine for the sickness that is Time. You truly are the lord of the three worlds, served by Brahmā, Viṣṇu and all the rest. Lord, make the city of Kāśī your capital, and I will stay here meditating on you, for a happiness beyond thought.

You alone give liberation and fulfil desires — there is no other. So for the good of the world, live here always, together with Pārvatī. Sadāśiva, carry all beings across the ocean of worldly life, and accomplish the work of your devotees. I beg you, again and again.

Being entreated in this way, Śaṅkara, the Lord of all, came to dwell there for the good of the world. And from the day Hara came to Kāśī, the Purāṇa says, Kāśī became the greatest of all places.

Pārvatī asks

The sages said to Sūta: If the great city of Vārāṇasī is so holy, tell us the power of it, and of the Avimukta liṅga.

Sūta said: I will tell you, briefly and properly, the beautiful glory of Vārāṇasī and of Viśveśvara. Once Pārvatī, glad at heart and thinking of the good of the world, asked Śiva about the glory of Kāśī and of Avimukta. Be gracious to me, she said, and for the good of the world tell me the full greatness of this field.

The God of gods was pleased. Gentle one, he said, you have asked a question that brings good and happiness to the world. I will tell you the true glory of Avimukta and of Kāśī. Vārāṇasī is always my secret field, and in every way it is the cause of liberation for all beings.

In this field siddhas live always, wearing many kinds of marks, keeping my vow and longing to reach my world. Here they master their minds and senses, practise the great yoga, and keep the Pāśupata vow, which gives both enjoyment and liberation.

Hear, Maheśvarī, why I love to leave everything else and live in Vārāṇasī. My devotee and the one who truly knows — both of these will be freed. They need no other tīrtha; for them, what is prescribed and what is not are alike. They are free while still living, and wherever they die, they are freed at once. This is the truth. But now hear what is special about this tīrtha, Avimukta.

Who is freed in Kāśī

People of every caste and every stage of life, Śiva said — children, the young or the old — who die in this city are surely freed. Any woman at all — pure or impure, unmarried or married, widowed or childless, in her monthly course or just after childbirth, with or without the sacred rites — if she dies in this field, she is freed. Creatures born from sweat, from eggs, from seeds or from the womb: all of them, dying here, gain a liberation they could gain nowhere else.

Here, Devī, there is no need for knowledge, nor for devotion, nor for good deeds, nor for gifts. There is no need for sacraments, or for meditation, or for the holy name, or for worship, or for high birth. Whoever lives in this field of mine, however he may die, surely attains liberation.

This divine city of mine, beloved, is more secret than the secret. Even Brahmā and the gods do not know its greatness. Because it frees in every condition, this great field is called Avimukta; and for those who die there it frees more surely than Naimiṣa and the other holy places.

The wise say that truth is the inner secret of dharma, that evenness of mind is the essence of liberation, and that Avimukta is the inner secret of all holy fields and tīrthas. Even one who eats, sleeps and plays as he pleases, if he gives up his life in Avimukta, becomes fit for liberation.

It is better to do a thousand sins and become a ghost here, Śiva said, than to leave Kāśī for a thousand reigns as Indra in heaven. That is why sages hold to Kāśī with all their effort and meditate on Sadāśiva, the Unmanifest.

Whatever fruit people seek when they do tapas here, I give it to them; and after that I give them union with me and the place they long for. Those who leave the body here are bound by karma nowhere. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the Sun and all the other great ones, with the gods and the sages, worship me here.

Even a person whose mind is caught in the senses and who has no taste for dharma does not come back into this world if he dies in this field. Then what need is there to speak of those who are free of ‘mine’, steady, rooted in sattva, without ego, full of merit, who have given up all self-seeking undertakings? They all rest in me.

After thousands of births, Śiva said, a yogī is born here, and dying here he gains the highest liberation. Here my devotees have set up many liṅgas, which fulfil wishes and give liberation. This field stretches five krośas on every side, and dying anywhere within it, a being gains immortality.

Those who sin in Kāśī

Then Śiva explained the order of liberation. One without sin who dies here is freed at once. One who dies here burdened with sin first takes on bodies of suffering (kāyavyūha), undergoes torment, and is freed after that.

And one who commits sin within this field of Avimukta, my beautiful one, must undergo the torment of Bhairava for ten thousand years. Only when the fruit of that sin has been suffered is he freed. Knowing this, Śiva said, a person should honour Avimukta in the proper way.

Three kinds of karma

Then Śiva explained why Kāśī is so rare. Even in a hundred crore kalpas, he said, a deed once done is not wiped out; the fruit of good and bad deeds must be lived through. Bad deeds lead to hell, good deeds to heaven, and the two together to birth as a human being. As the balance between them shifts, a person gets a higher or a lower body. But when both are used up, there is liberation. This is the truth.

The texts of ritual speak of three kinds of binding karma, he went on. Sañcita is what was gathered in earlier births. Prārabdha is what is being lived out in this present body. Kriyamāṇa is the good and bad being done in this life, right now.

Prārabdha is ended only by living it out; there is no other way. Sañcita and kriyamāṇa can be ended by worship and other means. But the ending of all karma together happens nowhere except in Kāśī. Every other tīrtha is easy to reach, Śiva said; Kāśī is hard to reach.

Only one who has seen Kāśī with reverence in a former life comes to Kāśī and dies there; no one else. One who comes to Kāśī and bathes in the Gaṅgā has his sañcita and kriyamāṇa karma destroyed. Prārabdha does not end without being lived through — but when a person dies here in the proper way, his prārabdha too is used up.

And if someone once served Kāśī and afterwards fell into sin, the strong seed of that service brings him back to Kāśī, and then all his sins are burnt to ash. So, Śiva said, one should surely serve Kāśī, which tears karma out by the root. Whoever helps even one brahmin to live in Kāśī will himself come to live in Kāśī and be freed.

Kāśī and Prayāga

Last, Śiva compared Kāśī with Prayāga. One who dies in Kāśī is not born again. One who dies in Prayāga seeking some fruit receives the fruit he wished for. If dying in the two places brought the same result, Kāśī's unique gift of liberation would mean nothing, and Prayāga's unique gift of fulfilling wishes would be lost too. So, at my command, Śiva said, Viṣṇu himself makes a new creation and grants those who die at Prayāga the fulfilment they long for.

Such, said Sūta, is the great glory of the city of Kāśī and of Viśveśvara, which gives good people both enjoyment and liberation. Next I will tell you the glory of Tryambakeśvara; hearing it, a person is freed from all sins in a moment.