Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.36
॥
Devanāgarī
काश्यां स्थानानि चत्वारि । तेषामभ्यर्हितमन्तर्गृहम् । तत्राप्यविमुक्तमभ्यर्हितम् । तत्र स्थानानि पञ्च । तन्मध्ये शिवागारमभ्यर्हितम्
Transliteration (IAST)
kāśyāṃ sthānāni catvāri | teṣāmabhyarhitamantargṛham | tatrāpyavimuktamabhyarhitam | tatra sthānāni pañca | tanmadhye śivāgāramabhyarhitam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
काश्यां स्थानानि चत्वारिkāśyāṃ sthānāni catvāriin Kāśī there are four places
तेषाम् अभ्यर्हितम् अन्तः-गृहम्teṣām abhyarhitam antaḥ-gṛhamof them the inner house is more honored
तत्र अपि अविमुक्तम् अभ्यर्हितम्tatra api avimuktam abhyarhitamand there, Avimukta is more honored
तन्मध्ये शिव-अगारम् अभ्यर्हितम्tanmadhye śiva-agāram abhyarhitamamong them, the house of Śiva is more honored
Translation
«In Kāśī there are four places; of them the inner house is more honored; and there Avimukta is more honored; there are five places, and among them the house of Śiva is more honored».
Version
fc0f9215226e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The catalogue of places begins: four, of which one; within it five, of which one. This structure is worth noting, for it recurs in every such catalogue: a circle within a circle, and each time one of them is named more honored than the rest. Worth tracing where it leads. First the city; then a part of the city; then a place within that part; then a house at that place. And each step narrows further.
This narrowing in such descriptions is a device, and a twofold one in its effect. On one hand it concentrates: a person walking toward a goal has a point to walk toward, and this is better than vagueness. On the other, it cuts off. For every narrowing has its reverse side: the smaller the place, the fewer those who can fit into it; and at the end of such a ladder it inevitably turns out that salvation is to be had only by standing on a particular stone.
The Vaishnava side reveres places too and builds such ladders too; but it has a counterweight worth mentioning. The Name has no place. The Bhāgavatam says the Name works wherever it is uttered; and so, however far the ladder of places narrows, there is a means not tied to it.
This counterweight is, to my mind, necessary to every teaching about holy places; and its absence makes such a teaching dangerous for those who are far away.