Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (5 page)

‘“One then goes on to the river named Narmada, famous in the three worlds. Having offered oblations to the ancestors and the gods,
one obtains the fruits of agnishtoma. The
brahmachari
⁵⁰
who is in control of his senses goes on to the southern waters, attains agnishtoma
⁵¹
and ascends a celestial chariot. Controlling himself and controlling his diet, he then goes to Charmanvati,
⁵²
and obtaining Rantideva’s permission, attains the fruits of agnishtoma. O Yudhishthira!
⁵³
O one learned in dharma! He then goes on to Arbuda, the son of the Himalayas. In earlier times, there used to be a hole in the earth here.
⁵⁴
Vasishtha’s hermitage, famous in the three worlds, is there. He who spends a single night there, obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
⁵⁵
O tiger among men! As a brahmachari in control of one’s senses, one should bathe in Pingatirtha and obtain the fruits from one hundred tawny cows.
⁵⁶
O one learned in dharma! One then goes to Prabhasa, famous in the worlds.
⁵⁷
The fire-god is himself always present there. The brave Anala
⁵⁸
is the mouth of the gods and has the wind for his chariot. A man who bathes in that supreme tirtha, pure and restrained
in mind, obtains the fruits of both agnishtoma and
atiratra
.
⁵⁹
One then goes to the place where Sarasvati unites with the ocean. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He obtains the fruits of one thousand cows
⁶⁰
and attains the world of heaven, blazing in resplendence like the fire. One should stay there for three nights and offer oblations to the ancestors and the gods. One then shines like the moon and attains ashvamedha.
⁶¹
O supreme among the Bharata lineage! One then goes to the tirtha where a boon was granted. O Yudhishthira!
⁶²
Durvasa granted a boon to Vishnu there. A man who bathes where the boon was granted obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
⁶³
Then, restrained and controlled in one’s diet, one goes to Dvaravati. A man who bathes in Pindaraka
⁶⁴
obtains a lot of gold. O immensely fortunate one! O destroyer of enemies! O descendant of the Kuru lineage! It is extraordinary that in that tirtha,
⁶⁵
even today, coins can be seen, marked with the signs of the lotus and signs of the trident. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Mahadeva is always present there.

‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! One goes on to where the Sindhu
⁶⁶
unites with the ocean. With a restrained mind, one bathes in the waters of that king among tirthas. O bull among the Bharata lineage! One offers oblations to the ancestors, the gods and the sages. One obtains the world of Varuna and becomes resplendent in one’s own energy. O Yudhishthira!
⁶⁷
The wise ones say that by worshipping the god who is the lord of Shankukarna, one obtains ten times an ashamedha.
⁶⁸
O bull among the Bharata lineage! O supreme among
the best of the Kuru lineage! After circumambulating it, one goes to the tirtha that is famous in the three worlds. This is renowned by the name of Drimi and is the cleanser of all sins. It is there that Brahma and the other gods worshipped Maheshvara.
⁶⁹
A man who bathes there and worships Rudra, surrounded by the masses of the gods, removes all the sins he has committed since birth. It was there that Drimi, supreme among men, was honoured by all the gods. O best of men! Bathing there, one obtains a horse sacrifice.
⁷⁰
O immensely intelligent one! O king! In earlier times, it was there that the lord Vishnu purified himself after slaying the thorns of the gods.
⁷¹
O one learned in dharma! One should then go to Vasudhara, universally worshipped. From merely going there, one obtains a horse sacrifice.
⁷²
O best among the supreme of the Kurus! By bathing there, controlling his soul and worshipping the gods and the ancestors, one is glorified in Vishnu’s world. O bull among the Bharata lineage! In that tirtha, there is a sacred lake of the Vasus. Bathing there and drinking its water, one is favoured by the Vasus. O best of men! There is the famous Sindhuttama, the cleanser of all sins. Bathing there, one obtains a lot of gold. Having gone to Brahmatunga, pure and controlled in mind, a man who performs good deeds without any passion, attains the world of Brahma. There is Shakra’s
⁷³
tirtha named Kumarika, frequented by the
siddhas
.
⁷⁴
Having bathed there, a man swiftly attains Shakra’s world. There is another tirtha named Renuka there,
frequented by the gods. On bathing there, a brahmana becomes as unblemished as the moon.

‘“Controlled and restrained in diet, one should then go to Panchanada.
⁷⁵
As has been extolled, in due order, one obtains the five sacrifices.
⁷⁶
O one learned in dharma! One then goes to the supreme place known as Bhimasthana.
⁷⁷
O supreme among the Bharata lineage! O king! Bathing in Yoni,
⁷⁸
a man becomes the son of a goddess and has a body adorned with golden earrings. He obtains the fruits of one hundred thousand cows.
⁷⁹
Going to Girimunja and worshipping the grandfather,
⁸⁰
one obtains the fruits of a thousand cows.
⁸¹
O one learned in dharma! Then one goes to the supreme tirtha known as Vimala.
⁸²
Even today, golden and silver fish can be seen there. O best of men! Having bathed there, one obtains a horse sacrifice.
⁸³
Cleansed of all sins and pure in soul, one attains the supreme goal. Then one should go to Malada, famous in the three worlds. At the time of the western
⁸⁴
sandhya, one should perform ablutions in the ritual fashion. One should then offer
charu
⁸⁵
to the seven-flamed fire in accordance with one’s powers. The learned say that such offerings to the ancestors become inexhaustible. Charu offered to the seven-flamed fire is superior to a hundred thousand cows,
⁸⁶
a hundred royal sacrifices and one thousand horse sacrifices. O Indra among men! From there, one should specifically go to Vastrapada. Having gone to Mahadeva there, one obtains the fruits of a horse sacrifice. O king! One then goes to Manimat. Practising brahmacharya, controlling one’s mind and living there for one night, one obtains the fruits of agnishtoma.

‘“O Indra among kings! O bull among the Bharata lineage! Then one should go to Devika,
⁸⁷
famous in the world. It has been heard that brahmanas were created there. This is the place of the wielder of the trident, famous in the three worlds.
⁸⁸
O bull among the Bharata lineage! Bathing in Devika and worshipping Maheshvara, and offering charu in accordance with one’s capacity, a man obtains the fruits of a sacrifice that yields all desires. Rudra’s tirtha Kamakhya,
⁸⁹
frequented by the divine sages, is also there. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having bathed there, a man swiftly obtains success. Moving on to Yajana, Yajana
⁹⁰
and Brahmavaluka and touching the waters of Pushpam, one overcomes sorrow and death. It is said that the sacred Devika, frequented by devarshis, is five
yojana
s
⁹¹
long and half a yojana wide. O one learned in dharma! Then in due order, one should go to Dirghasatra.
⁹²
With Brahma at the forefront, the
gods, the siddhas and the supreme rishis performed a long sacrifice there, rigid in their vows and donating
dakshina
.
⁹³
O Indra among kings! O destroyer of enemies! By going to Dirghasatra, a man obtains the fruits of a royal sacrifice and a horse sacrifice. Then, controlled and restrained in one’s diet, one should go to Vinasana.
⁹⁴
The Sarasvati disappeared there in the midst of the desert and could again be seen in Chamasa, Shivodbheda and Nagodbheda. Bathing in Chamasodbheda,
⁹⁵
one obtains the fruits of agnishtoma. Bathing in Shivodbheda, a man obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
⁹⁶
Bathing in Nagodbheda, a man obtains the world of the nagas.
⁹⁷

‘“O Indra among kings! One moves on to Shashayana,
⁹⁸
a difficult tirtha to attain. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Lotuses assume the form of rabbits there for an entire year. O Indra among kings! O best of the Bharata lineage! O tiger among men! Bathing in the waters there, at the time of the full moon in the month of Kartika, one is always radiant like the moon. O bull among the Bharata lineage! One obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
⁹⁹
O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Restrained, one should go on to Kumarakoti. Having bathed there, one should worship the ancestors and the gods. Thus one obtains the fruits of infinite cows
¹⁰⁰
and uplifts one’s lineage. O one learned in dharma! Restrained in soul, one then goes to Rudrakoti. O great king! In ancient times, one crore self-controlled sages assemble there, filled with great joy and desiring to see Rudra.
O descendant of the Bharata lineage! ‘I will be the first one to see Vrishadhvaja.’
¹⁰¹
‘I am the first to see him.’ O king! It is said that thus did the sages speak. O lord of the earth! In an attempt to prevent those self-controlled sages from becoming angry, the lord of yoga
¹⁰²
resorted to yoga and created one crore Rudras, one before every sage. Each one separately thought, ‘I have seen him first.’ O king! Having been satisfied with the terrible energy of the sages and their supreme devotion, Mahadeva granted them a boon. ‘Your dharma will increase from today.’ O tiger among men! A pure man who bathes in Rudrakoti obtains the fruits of a horse sacrifice and rescues his lineage. O Indra among kings! From there, one should go to the confluence of Sarasvati, famous in the world and extremely sacred.
¹⁰³
O Indra among kings! There the gods, the rishis, the siddhas and the
charana
s,
¹⁰⁴
with Brahma at the forefront, go on the fourteenth day of
shuklapaksha
¹⁰⁵
in the month of Chaitra and worship Janardana.
¹⁰⁶
Having bathed there, one obtains a lot of gold, is freed from all one’s sins and one’s soul is purified. One goes to the world of Brahma. O lord of men! On going to Satravasana, one obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
¹⁰⁷
It is there that the sages completed their sacrifices.”’

‘“Pulastya said, ‘O Indra among kings! One should then go to the applauded Kurukshetra. All those who go there are
freed from all their sins. He who always says, “I will go to Kurukshetra, I will live in Kurukshetra,” is freed from sins. O Yudhishthira!
¹⁰⁸
One should live for a month on the banks of the Sarasvati. O lord of the earth! With Brahma at the forefront, the gods, the sages, the siddhas, the charanas, the gandharvas, the apsaras and the
pannaga
s
¹⁰⁹
always go to the immensely sacred Brahmakshetra.
¹¹⁰
O Yudhishthira!
¹¹¹
Even if one only wishes to go to Kurukshetra in one’s mind, all one’s sins are destroyed and one goes to Brahma’s world. O extender of the Kuru lineage! He who goes to Kurukshetra with devotion, obtains the fruits of a royal sacrifice and a horse sacrifice. O king! Saluting the immensely strong gatekeeper, the
yaksha
Machakruka,
¹¹²
one obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
¹¹³
O one learned in dharma! O Indra among kings! One then goes to Vishnu’s supreme region. This is known as Satata and Hari is there.
¹¹⁴
Bathing there and worshipping Hari, the lord of the three worlds, one obtains a horse sacrifice
¹¹⁵
and attains Vishnu’s world. One should then go to the tirtha of Pariplava, famous in the three worlds. A man
¹¹⁶
obtains the fruits of agnishtoma and atiratra.
¹¹⁷
On going to the tirtha known as Prithivi, one obtains the fruits of a
thousand cows.
¹¹⁸
O lord of men! Going on to Shalukini and bathing in Dashashvamedhika,
¹¹⁹
the visitor of tirthas obtains those fruits.
¹²⁰
On going to the supreme tirtha of nagas known as Sarpadevi,
¹²¹
one obtains agnishtoma
¹²²
and attains the world of nagas. O one learned in dharma! One should then go to the gatekeeper Tarantuka.
¹²³
Spending one night there, one obtains the fruits of one thousand cows.
¹²⁴
One should then go to Panchanada,
¹²⁵
controlled and restrained in diet. Having bathed in Kotitirtha, one obtains the fruits of a horse sacrifice.
¹²⁶
Going on to the tirtha known as Ashvins, one is reborn in beautiful form.

‘“‘O one learned in dharma! One should then go to the supreme tirtha known as Varaha.
¹²⁷
In earlier times, Vishnu was established there in the form of a boar. O tiger among men! On bathing there, one obtains the fruits of agnishtoma. O Indra among kings! One should then go to Somatirtha in Jayanti.
¹²⁸
Bathing there, a man obtains the fruits of a royal sacrifice. Bathing in Ekahamsa, a man obtains the fruits of a thousand cows.
¹²⁹
O extender of the Kuru lineage! A visitor of tirthas then goes to Kritashoucha. Such a man
becomes pure and attains Pundarika.
¹³⁰
Then one goes to the wise Mahadeva at Munjavata.
¹³¹
Having stayed there for one night, one attains the status of Ganapati.
¹³²
O great king! Yakshi, famous in the world, is there. O Indra among kings! Going there, one attains the sacred worlds. O bull among the Bharata lineage! This is famous as the gate to Kurukshetra. The visitor of tirthas should control his soul and circumambulate it. Bathing in the lake there, which was created by the great-souled Jamadagnya Rama,
¹³³
one should worship the ancestors and the gods. O king! One then becomes successful in one’s endeavours and obtains a horse sacrifice.
¹³⁴