Sadhguru Writes: Kashi is Eternal, Kashi Vishwanath Not about Specific Religion, It is for the World

Kashi is the oldest living city on the planet. It is older than the legend, in Mark Twain’s words. When Rome was not even thought of, Kashi was. When Athens had not entered people’s heads, Kashi had. Before the phenomenon of Egypt happened, Kashi existed. They say even Yogi Sunira, who lived around 40,000 years ago, came to Kashi looking for something. If Sunira came 40,000 years ago, by then, it must have already been a flourishing city, and known as the centre of knowledge.

But about 12-15 years ago, when I happened to be in one of Kashi’s largest hotels, everywhere in the hotel, they were only projecting the place as a destination for Sarnath, the first place where Gautam Buddha taught. I asked the management, “Why is there is no mention of Kashi in Varanasi? It is all about Sarnath."

They said, “All our clients are from Japan and other Buddhist countries. No one else comes."

So essentially, the elite would never go to Kashi because of its condition. Only rural people and Buddhist tourists wanting to go to Sarnath were coming to Kashi. We must understand that Gautama himself chose to first teach near Kashi because if you had to teach anything of significance, to get an audience who would understand what you were talking about, you had to go to Kashi at that time. Kashi was a centre of knowledge, a centre of spiritual process, and above all, a centre of transcendence.

Kashi was built as a yantra, an instrument to transform and transcend the human being to areas that individuals may not be able to reach by themselves. It had 108 main temples, 54 each for Shiva and Shakti, giving equal significance to the masculine and the feminine. And, at one time, there were over 26,000 shrines. Each of them had a method of its own for how a human being can achieve transcendence. These 26,000 shrines developed satellites, or small shrines of their own, going up to 72,000 shrines. As there are 72,000 prana nadis in the body, there were 72,000 shrines across Kashi at one time – when it was in its full glory. So, it is a mega human being. The idea is to connect the microcosm and the macrocosm, or the individual and the universal.

It is a misfortune that we were not alive when it was in its full glory. But even now, in twentieth century, after being ravaged for six-seven centuries continuously, if you are a little sensitive, this is a fantastic place.

Why the Revival of Kashi Vishwanath is Important

Vishwanath means “lord of the world". It touches every life on this planet, not just humans, because this is Sanatan culture. Sanatan means “eternal". That which is eternal cannot be exclusive; it has to be inclusive, and that is what Kashi represents. So Kashi Vishwanath is not about a specific religion, it is for the entire world.

The time has come when the world has to move away from divisive dogmas, philosophies and ideologies. Going to the temple is not about worship. These days, everyone thinks that a temple is a place of prayer. No, this must be corrected. You go to a temple only to imbibe the divine form because this is a culture where we don’t look up to the divine. We want the divine to imprint itself upon us, so that the divine footprint within our minds and hearts will transform us into a divine possibility. This is vital for the world because this whole thinking that the divine is somewhere, it gets angry with you, it is pleased with nice words that you say, and it will bestow gifts upon you, is a very childish way of looking at life.

The sanatan sthanas, which we are referring to as temples, must be revived, built with the necessary scientific process, and taken back for the purpose for which they were built, rather than just converting them into religious places. This is very important for every citizen of Bharat, and the world.

My heart is filled with joy that today there is some revival of Kashi, making it a little more presentable to the world. This is a grand effort and my congratulations and blessings to all who worked for this.

Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and bestselling author. Sadhguru has been conferred the ‘Padma Vibhushan’, India’s highest annual Civilian award, by the Government of India in 2017, for exceptional and distinguished service. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.​

Read all the Latest Opinions here