[Advaita-l] Vārāṇasī - moksha sthānam for both Hari and Hara bhaktas - Nārada Puranam

[V Subrahmanian]

The Narada Puranam gives, in this chapter, a great message:

https://sa.wikisource.org/s/4xj

Below is a *clear, faithful meaning of each verse*, *retaining the Sanskrit
intact*, and giving an *Advaita-sensitive, non-sectarian purport*, as the
verses themselves intend.
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**वाराणसी तु भुवनत्रयसारभूता रम्या नृणां सुगतिदा किल सेव्यमाना ।।

अत्रागता विविधदुष्कृतकारिणोऽपि पापक्षये विरजसः सुमनः प्रकाशाः ।। ४८-१३ ।।**

*Meaning:*
Vārāṇasī is indeed the very *essence of the three worlds*, delightful and
auspicious, and is renowned as the *bestower of the highest goal* to human
beings who resort to it. Even those who arrive here having committed *various
grave misdeeds*, upon the *destruction of their sins*, become purified,
free from inner taints, and attain *clarity and luminosity of mind*.
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**इदं गुह्यतमं क्षेत्रं सर्वप्राणिसुखावहम् ।।

मोक्षदं सर्वजंतूनां वैष्णवं शैवमेव च ।। ४८-१४ ।।**

*Meaning:*
This sacred field is the *most secret and profound of all holy places*,
bringing welfare to *all living beings*. It bestows *liberation upon every
creature*, and is *equally Vaishnava and Shaiva* in essence (i.e.,
transcending sectarian distinctions).
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**ब्रह्मघ्नगोघ्नगुरुतल्पगमित्रध्रुक्चन्यासापहरक्लशिदादिनिषिद्धवृत्तिः ।।

संसारभूतदृढपाशविमुक्तदेहो वाराणसीं शिवपुरीं समुपैति मर्त्यः ।। ४८-१५ ।।**

*Meaning:*
Even a mortal who has engaged in *prohibited acts*—such as killing a
brāhmaṇa, killing a cow, violating the teacher’s bed, betraying friends,
stealing deposits, causing distress to ascetics, and similar forbidden
conduct—
on reaching *Vārāṇasī, the city of Śiva*, becomes *freed from the firm
bonds of saṃsāra*, and his embodied existence is released from those
binding fetters.
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**क्षेत्रं तथेदं सुरसिद्धजुष्टं संप्राप्य मर्त्यः सुकृतप्रभावात् ।।

ख्यातो भवेत्सर्वसुरासुराणां मृतश्च यायात्परमं पदं सः ।। ४८-१६ ।।**

*Meaning:*
Having attained this sacred field—*frequented by gods and siddhas*—a
mortal, by the power of accumulated merit, becomes *renowned even among
gods and demons*; and upon death, he *attains the supreme state* (paramaṁ
padam).
------------------------------
**क्षेत्रेऽस्मिन्निवसंति ये सुकृतिनो भक्ता हरौ वा हरे पश्यंतोऽन्वहमादरेण
शुचयः संतः समाः शंभुना ।।

ते मर्त्यां भयदुःखपापरहिताः संशुद्धकर्मक्रिया भित्वा संभवबंधजालगहनं विंदंति
मोक्षं परम् ।। ४८-१७ ।।**

*Meaning:*
Those *meritorious and pure-minded persons* who dwell in this sacred
place—whether devoted to *Viṣṇu or to Śiva*—who behold the Lord daily with
reverence, living a life of purity and goodness, dear to Śambhu himself—
such mortals, free from *fear, sorrow, and sin*, with their actions fully
purified, *break through the dense web of repeated birth*, and attain *supreme
liberation*.
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*Overall Purport (संक्षेपार्थ):*

These verses present *Vārāṇasī as a transcendental kṣetra*,

   -

   beyond sectarian boundaries (Vaiṣṇava–Śaiva unity),
   -

   capable of *neutralizing even the gravest sins*,
   -

   and ultimately serving as a *means to mokṣa*, not merely punya.

The emphasis is *not ritual alone*, but *inner purification, devotion, and
release from saṃsāra*—fully consistent with *Advaitic and Purāṇic theology*.


Om Tat Sat