अविमुक्तं वै कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानां देवयजनं सर्वेषां भूतानां ब्रह्मसदनम् । तस्माद्यत्र क्वचन गच्छति तदेव मन्येतेतीदं वै कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानां देवयजनं सर्वेषां भूतानां ब्रह्मसदनम् । अत्र हि जन्तोः प्राणेषूत्क्रममाणेषु रुद्रस्तारकं ब्रह्म व्याचष्टे येनासावमृतीभूत्वा मोक्षीभवति । तस्मादविमुक्तमेव निषेवेत । अविमुक्तं न विमुञ्चेत्
avimuktaṃ vai kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃ devayajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ brahmasadanam | tasmādyatra kvacana gacchati tadeva manyetetīdaṃ vai kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃ devayajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ brahmasadanam | atra hi jantoḥ prāṇeṣūtkramamāṇeṣu rudrastārakaṃ brahma vyācaṣṭe yenāsāvamṛtībhūtvā mokṣībhavati | tasmādavimuktameva niṣeveta | avimuktaṃ na vimuñcet
Kurukṣetra is the avimukta — the gods' place of sacrifice, the abode of Brahman for all beings. Therefore, wherever anyone goes, let him think it that very place. For here, when a creature's breaths depart, Rudra expounds to him the ferrying Brahman, by which he, become immortal, is freed. Therefore let him honour the avimukta alone, and let him not forsake the unforsaken.
dbd7f39ca711 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 5:15:19 UTC
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The answer is given, and in it are three things, each deserving a separate word.
First: avimukta — “the unabandoned, the unforsaken”. So is called that place in Kāśī which, by tradition, Śiva never leaves. Kurukṣetra, it is said, is that very thing.
Second — a turn that overturns every thought of holy places: “wherever anyone goes, let him think it that very place”. That is, the avimukta is not there; it is wherever you are.
This is the real answer to Bṛhaspati's question. He asked what Kurukṣetra is; he is answered that it is no place on a map. The third Upaniṣad of the uttara will locate it more exactly — between the brows and the nose.
Third and chief: there, where the dying man's breaths depart, Rudra tells him the tāraka — “the ferrying one”. The word is from the root tṝ, “to ferry across”; the same root is in tīrtha, “a ford”.
On this the lore of Kāśī rests: to one dying in the holy city Śiva whispers in the ear the word by which he crosses. What that word is, the next chapter will say — the six-syllable mantra of Rāma.
And the last commandment sounds like a play of words and like a rule of life: avimuktaṁ na vimuñcet — “the unforsaken do not forsake”.