Sapta Puri: the seven cities of liberation

The verse and where it stands

"Ayodhyā mathurā māyā kāśī kāñcī avantikā, purī dvāravatī jñeyā saptaitā mokṣadāyikāḥ." Meaning: Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanchi, Avantika and the city of Dvaravati, know these seven as givers of liberation.

We found the verse twice in the Uttara Khanda (Dharma Kanda, Preta Kalpa) of the Garuda Purana: in chapter 38, verses 5-6, and in chapter 49, verse 114 (the Venkateshvara Press text, available on GRETIL). In both places the context is the places where dying brings liberation. In popular use it is also recited as "purī dvāravatī caiva saptaitā mokṣadāyikāḥ".

The seven cities in the Skanda Purana

In the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana (first half, chapter 7) Shivasharman, a brahmin of Mathura, resolves to visit the seven cities (verses 42-43) and goes in turn to Ayodhya, Prayaga, Kashi, Ujjayini (Mahakala), Kanchi, Dvaravati and Mayapuri (Haridwar). A note in the Motilal Banarsidass English translation names the seven cities of liberation and identifies Maya as Haridwar.

Where the sources differ

• The 1911 English translation of the abridged Garuda Purana by Ernest Wood and S. V. Subrahmanyam (chapter 16, verse 114) reads "Gayā", not "Māyā", as the third name; the Sanskrit text on GRETIL reads "māyā" in both places.
• The introduction to the English translation of the Skanda Purana (Vaishnava Khanda, Ayodhya Mahatmya) counts "Puri" separately as Jagannath Puri. But the verse says "saptaitā" (these seven), so reading "purī dvāravatī" as one city, the city of Dwarka, is what fits the verse.
• The verse is often quoted simply as "from the Garuda Purana", without a chapter. The two places given above are where we checked it in the text.

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