Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.35
॥
Devanāgarī
न तत्त्याज्यं न तत्त्याज्यं मोचकोऽहमविमुक्ते निवसताम् । नाविमुक्तात्परमं स्थानम् । नाविमुक्तात्परमं स्थानम्
Transliteration (IAST)
na tattyājyaṃ na tattyājyaṃ mocako'hamavimukte nivasatām | nāvimuktātparamaṃ sthānam | nāvimuktātparamaṃ sthānam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न तत् त्याज्यम्na tat tyājyamthat is not to be forsaken
न तत् त्याज्यम्na tat tyājyamthat is not to be forsaken
मोचकः अहम् अविमुक्ते निवसताम्mocakaḥ aham avimukte nivasatāmI am the releaser for those living in Avimukta
न अविमुक्तात् परमं स्थानम्na avimuktāt paramaṃ sthānamthere is no place higher than Avimukta
Translation
«That is not to be forsaken, not to be forsaken: I am the releaser for those living in Avimukta. There is no place higher than Avimukta, no place higher than Avimukta».
Version
9f640381b4d6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The glorification of Avimukta, that is, Kāśī, begins, and it will take up almost all of the rest of the book. The word avimukta means «unabandoned»: by tradition, Śiva never abandons this city. It is worth saying something of the custom of venerating a place itself, for it is shared by every tradition and raises the same difficulties in all of them.
What is a holy place? — A place where something happened, or where someone is, or where things are easier. The first understanding is harmless: people came here, lived here, prayed here, and so it is remembered. The second is stronger: He dwells here in a special way. The third is worldly: it is easier here, because everything around speaks of the same thing.
The Vaishnava side reveres places too, and has its own: Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa, Purī. And it speaks of them as forcefully as this book speaks of Kāśī. But it has a reservation too, worth naming. The Bhāgavatam says: «holy places are made holy by those who live in them» (1.13.10) — that is, the holiness of a place is not self-standing: it is upheld by those who dwell there.
Hence a danger worth warning of, one this book does not mention. If a place is holy in itself, then it suffices simply to be there; and this is the easiest of all things one could be asked to do — and so the most tempting.