ओं बृहस्पतिरुवाच याज्ञवल्क्यं यदनु कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानां देवयजनं सर्वेषां भूतानां ब्रह्मसदनम् । अविमुक्तं वै कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानां देवयजनं सर्वेषां भूतानां ब्रह्मसदनम् । तस्माद्यत्र क्वचन गच्छति तदेव मन्येत तदविमुक्तमेव । इदं वै कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानां देवयजनं सर्वेषां भूतानां ब्रह्मसदनम् । अत्र हि जन्तोः प्राणेषूत्क्रममाणेषु रुद्रस्तारकं ब्रह्म व्याचष्टे येनासावमृतीभूत्वा मोक्षीभवति । तस्मादविमुक्तमेव निषेवेत अविमुक्तं न विमुञ्चेदेवमेवैतद्याज्ञवल्क्यः
oṃ bṛhaspatiruvāca yājñavalkyaṃ yadanu kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃ devayajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ brahmasadanam | avimuktaṃ vai kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃ devayajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ brahmasadanam | tasmādyatra kvacana gacchati tadeva manyeta tadavimuktameva | idaṃ vai kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃ devayajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ brahmasadanam | atra hi jantoḥ prāṇeṣūtkramamāṇeṣu rudrastārakaṃ brahma vyācaṣṭe yenāsāvamṛtībhūtvā mokṣībhavati | tasmādavimuktameva niṣeveta avimuktaṃ na vimuñcedevamevaitadyājñavalkyaḥ
Om. Bṛhaspati said to Yājñavalkya: “What is that Kurukṣetra — the gods' place of sacrifice, the abode of Brahman for all beings?” — “Kurukṣetra is the avimukta, the gods' place of sacrifice, the abode of Brahman for all beings. Therefore, wherever one goes, let him think precisely this: it is the avimukta itself. For it is here, when a creature's breaths depart, that Rudra expounds to him the Brahman of crossing, by which he, become immortal, attains liberation. Therefore let him honour the avimukta alone, and let him not forsake the unforsaken.” — “Thus indeed it is”, said Yājñavalkya.
a13ed6c0a43c · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 2:53:35 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A reader of this library will find the very first paragraph familiar, and with good reason: the uttara-tāpanī of the Rāma-tāpanī Upaniṣad opens with it word for word.
There we read the same conversation of Bṛhaspati with Yājñavalkya, the same question about Kurukṣetra and the same answer. The Jābāla is the source; the Rāma-tāpanī took this opening from it, just as it took its litany from the Atharvaśiras.
Let us take the passage apart.
Kurukṣetra is the field where the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas met and where the Gītā was spoken. And it is named by two ancient formulas: “the gods' place of sacrifice” and “the abode of Brahman for all beings”.
But the answer is not about geography: Kurukṣetra is avimukta, “the unforsaken”. That is the name of the place in Kāśī which Śiva never leaves.
And then comes the sentence that overturns every notion of holy places: “wherever one goes, let him think precisely this”. The unforsaken, that is, is not over there; it is wherever you are.
The third paragraph will point to it more exactly — between the brows and the nose.
And one thing more: tāraka, “that which carries across” — the word to which the Rāma-tāpanī will devote a whole chapter. Here it is only named: Rudra speaks it into the ear of the dying.
The precept itself sounds like a play on words and like a rule of life: avimuktaṃ na vimuñcet — “the unforsaken do not forsake”.