The Greatness of Prayaga (Concluded)

1. Listen, О MohinI, I shall recount the glory of Pra- yagaas approved in the Vedas. By taking the holy bath therein in acccordance with the religious injunctions, one becomes pure.

2. Wherever one may have his plunge in the Ganga, it is on a par with Kurukshetra. It is ten times more meritorious, where it comes into contact with Vindhya (?)

3. At Kashl it flows towards the north. It is hundred times more efficacious there. The place where the Ganga mingles with the Yamuna, the daughter of the Sun-god, is hundred times more effective than at Kasi.

4. When it flows towards the west, it is thousand time more meritorious. О gentle lady, the Ganga there dispels the evil of Brahmahatya (murder of a Brahmana) etc. by its mere sight.

5. The Ganga flowing towards the west and mingling with the Kalindi (Yamuna) destroys sins accumulated in hundreds of Kalpas. О gentle lady, it is very difficult of performance (and very auspicious) in the month ofMagha.

6. Its continuous flow of the braided currents of Ganga and Yamuna coming in contact with the Earth, is'said to be nectar. Even a Muhurta (48 minutes) there in the month of Magha is inaccessible even to the Devas.

7. During the month of Magha, when the sun is in the the Makara (Capricorn) sign, О chaste lady, all the Tirthas on the Earth, all meritorious cities, come to the Veni (water of the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna) to take holy dip therein.

8-11. О daughter of Brahma, all these come to the Veni to take their holy bath therein, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahadeva, Rudras, Adityas, Maruts, Gandharvas guardians of the quarters, Yaksas, Kinnaras, Guhyakas, all other seers of reality equipped with super-human powers (siddhis) like Anima (minuteness) etc. Brahmani, Parvatl, Lakshmi, Saci, Medha, Aditi, Rati, the wives of Devas, the women of Nagas, famous celestial damsels like GhrtacI, Mcnaka Rambha, UrvasI, Tilot- tama, Apsaras and Pitrs come here for taking bath.

12-1 ЗА. These deities used to come down in their real form in Krtayuga, in the Kaliyuga they come down in disguise (in invisible form). Due to contact with the sinners, Tirthas become black. They become white in colour once again by their holy dip at Prayaga in the month ofMagha.

13B-14. (At the time of bath the following Mantra should be recited) “O Govinda, О Acyuta, О Mahadeva, thanks to this holy bath of mine, in the month of Magha. when the Sun is in the Capricorn, be you the bestower of benefit as mentioned in Shastras”. Uttering this Mantra and observing silence otherwise, the devotee should take the holy dip.

15-16. Again he should remember Vasudeva, Hari, Kfsna,and Madhava. When the sun is in Capricorn, if men take bath in the house with warm water, its benefit is earned only in the course of sixty years. If bath is taken outside in tanks, it yields the benefit in the course of twelve years.

The Tristhali-Setu (p. 8) clarifies that the confluence of the Gahga, Yamuna (and Sarasvati) is called Vepf.

17. The benefit of bath in a lake is twice that of the same in a tank and in the river it is fourfold. In a natural pond, it is tenfold and in a big river it is hundredfold.

18. In the confluence of two great rivers it is four hundred times more meritorious. These merits are increased a thousand times when the sun is in the Capricorn.

19A. When one takes a holy dip in Ganga at Prayaga when the sun is in Capricorn, the same as above is reputed to be thousand times more meritorious.

19B-20a. О lady of beautiful eyes, those who take bath into the Ganga in the month of Magha, do not fall from the abode of Devas for the period of a thousand sets of four Yugas.

20B-21a. О daughter of Brahma, if in the month of Magha, it is hundred-times more meritorious, the bath in the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna is thousand-times more meritorious.

21B-22A. О gentle lady, god Brahma has created this Prayaga for the combustion of the burden due to multitude of sins on the Earth. He created Prayaga, out of desire for the benefit of his subjects.

22B-23A. In some places, its waters are white and in some other places its waters are black. It had been formerly created by Brahma for the destruction of animals in the form of sins.

23B-24A. The creator has created that path to the world of Brahma viz. the flow of the current that is white and black. It has been blended together (lit. closely strung together) by the Sarasvati. In the Manasa lake, the month of Magha is the bestower of perfect knowledge but not of the benefit of salvation.

24B-25. In the holy places on the plateau of the Himalayas, the month of Magha has been stipulated by the knowers of the Vedas as destructive of all sins and the bestower of the region of Indra (Svarga). But Magha, the best of all months confers Moksha (liberation from Samsara) at the forest of Badari (Mod. Badri-Narayana)

Magha is glorified as the destroyer of sins, remover of miseries, bestower of desired objects and conferer of stay in the region of Rudra.»

27. Ablution in the waters of Sarasvatl (in the month of Magha) annihilates multitude of sins and grants many pleasures in the world. At Visala1 the month of Magha is

28. The holy water of the Ganga is a veritable forest fire for the fuel of sins. It is destructive of the necessity of staying in the womb (i.e. of taking rebirth). The holy waters are glorified as conducive to the attainment of the world of Vishnu and salvation.

29-30. A man who takes bath in the following rivers becomes free from sins and goes to the heavenly world. The rivers are Sarayu, GandakI, Sindhu, Candrabhaga, (the Chenab), KausikI (KusI) Tapi, Godavari, Bhlma, Payosni (Bain-Ganga), Krishnavenika, (Krishna) Kaveri, Tungabhadra and other rivers that flow into the sea.

31. The bath in the Naimisa in the month of Magha yields identity of form with Vishnu; that in the Puskara lake confers nearness to Brahma and that in Kurukshetra bestows the world of Indra.

32. О gentle lady, in the Devahrada, the month of Magha is the bestower of Yogic Siddhis. By taking a holy dip in Prabhasa when the Sun is in Capricorn, one shall become Rudra’s attendant.

33. By means of bath in Devika (the lower course of Sarayu) during Magha, a man becomes endowed with a divine body. О daughter of Brahma, thanks to the holy dip in the Gomati during the month of Magha, one ceases to have rebirth.

34. The Month of Magha is the bestower of the world of Rudra, if one stays at the following places viz. Hemakunda (or Kailasa), Mahakala (the famous Jyotir-linga at Ujjain) at Omkara Mandhata, (a Jyotirlinga in the Narmada), Nila- kantha (the Shiva Shrine, five miles north of Kathmandu, Nepal) and Arbuda (Mt. Abu).

1. Visala, the same as Vaisali in the Buddhist period. It is mod. Besad in Muzaffarpur dist. in Bihar.

35. During the period while the Sun is in the sign of Capricorn, the waters of rivers are conducive to the attainment of all cherished desires by performance of ablution in them. This should be noted by all clever people.

36. О daughter of Brahma, only the blessed people reach Prayaga during the month of Magha since the water of the confluence there which is both white and black is the bestower of non-recurrence of births.

37. Devas stationed in the heaven always do sing thus, “the month of Magha must happen to us at Prayaga (i.e. we wish to be in Prayaga in the month of Magha). Men who take their holy dip there at that time, do not experience the pain of being within the womb. They stay in the vicinity of Vishnu.

38. О daughter of the four-faced deity, formerly Magha and Prayaga were weighed against Tirthas, Vratas, charitable gifts, and sacrifices, in the balance. Of the two, Magha was found to be weightier.

39. Through the holy bath at Prayaga, men attain that goal which they attain by more severe penances in which they subsist only on air, water or leaves and make the bodies emaciated or which had been practised in the course of long periods of time. They attain the same goal as is attained by the practice of Yogic exercises.

40. Swarms of bees flapped by the ears of Elephants will decorate the portals of houses of those persons who take a holy dip in the Tlrtha at Prayaga, the confluence of the divine rivers, when the Sun stays in the zodiac of Capricorn (i.e. they become rich and own many elephants.)

41. Through the holy bath in it, Prayaga fully bestows a benefit equal to that of sacrifice called Rajasiiya, after destroying all sins sportively. Indeed, how is it that Prayaga cannot be described?

42. He who takes a holy bath in the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna attains merit acquired by masters of the four Vedas and habitual speakers of truth.

43. In the confluence, the devotee of praiseworthy holy vows shouid take ablution. He attains a benefit equal to both — Rajasiiya and ASvamedha (Horse Sacrifice).

44. The geographical area of Prayaga extends to five Yojanas. After the entry within its precincts one gains the merit of Horse-sacrifice at every step.1

45. О blessed lady, there are three consecrated pools and in the middle thereof is the Jahnavl. By entering into Prayaga the sin perishes instantaneously.2

46. By taking a holy dip in Prayaga for a month and remaining restrained in the sense-organs, one is liberated from all sins.

47. By remaining pure in mind and body, by abjuring violence and by maintaining faith, he who takes holy bath is liberated from all sins. He shall go to the greatest region.

48-50A. There are many holy centres, spots and shrines abiding in Prayaga such as Naimisa, Puskara, Gotlrtha, Sindhu- sagara, Gaya, Dhenuka, and the confluence of Ganga and Sea. There are many sacred mountains. There are ten thousand Tirthas and thirty crores of other shrines. These shrines stationed in Prayaga flourish day by day. They are enlightening to the mind.

50B-53. There are three Kundas of sacred fire and the Ganga flows through the middle of them. It comes out from Prayaga. It is regarded as their supreme by all the Tirthas. The divine river Yamuna, the daughter of the Sun, is well- known in the three worlds. It joins Ganga. It sanctifies the worlds. The other holy centres that are between Ganga and Yamuna, though remembered as great in the Earth do not deserve to be even a sixteenth part of the holy centre Prayaga. Vayu (the wind god) says that there are three and a half crores of holy shrines.

2. NP. verse 50 below, Mbh. Vana 85. 73, Mt. P. 110. 4 also cal] these sacred spots as ‘altars of sacrificial fire’ (Agni-Kuwfa). The number of these Кщфи (pooh) is three even according to AP. 111-12 but Кйгта

54B-55. The area of Prayaga extends from Pratis^- hana upto the two Nagas — Kambala and Asvatara or up to Bhogavati (the pool of Vasuki.) This should be known as the Sacred altar of Prajapati.1 Assuming (physical) bodies the Vedas and sacrifices are present there.

56. О chaste lady, sages, ascetics, Devas and Cakra- dharas (holders of discus) worship Prajapati by means of sacrifices.

57. О beautiful lady, there is no other holy centre more meritorious than it in the three worlds. Thanks to its power, it is superior to all other Tirthas.

58. By visiting that greatest Tirtha (viz Prayaga), people are liberated from all sins like the moon liberated from Rahu.

59-60A. After going to Prayaga guarded by the Devas, a Brahmacarin (a religious student) should stay there for a month, performing Tarpana rites unto the Pitrs and the Devas. He attains desired benefits.

60B-61A. If a person even though enveloped with hundreds of sins, takes bath in the black and white waters of the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna when the Sun is in the Capricorn in the month of Magha, he does not stay in the womb thereafter (as he is liberated from Samsara there- by).

6 IB-62 A. The Maya pertaining to Vishnu is invincible. It cannot be shaken off even by the Devas- But, О daughter of Brahma, iu the month of Magha, at Prayaga it is burned-

62B-63A. Those who take their holy dip at Prayaga in the month of Magha, enjoy pleasures in the different worlds and get dissolved in the discus-bearing lord Vishnu thereafter.

63B-64. Even Citragupta does not adequately know the extent of the merit of the person who takes holy dip in the Sitasita (i.e. the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna) during the month of Magha when the Sun is in Capricorn. Certainly, those who take holy bath in the Sitasita during the month of Magha attain the benefit of a thousand Rajasuya and a hundred Vajapeya sacrifices.

+ Samadhishthaya in the text is confusing. The Mbh, Vanabb. 76-77 from which this is a quotation reads Sa-pratiffhdnam. Hence it is adopted here. Pratisthana is modern Jhusi near Prayaga and marks its eastern boundary. In Tristhali-Setu, Pratifthana is the name of а Кйра (well) that marks the eastern boundary.

1. Quoted from Mbh. Vona 85. 76.77. cf. The Mt. P. 104. 5 Pd. P. I. 39. 69-70 for the sacred area of Prayaga.

65. The sins accumulated by men in the course of their births ever since the beginning of the Kalpa are reduced to ashes, if they perform ablution in the Sitasita during the month of Magha.

66-69A. The confluence of Ganga and Yamuna is well-known in the worlds. It is called a Kamika Tirtha (i.e. a holy centre where desires are realised). Whatever one may desire and whoever may desire it, it is realised by means of holy bath therein with devotion. If the devotee desires worldly pleasures he will have them. If the devotee desires a kingdom, he will get it. The heaven will be attained by one who desires it, and the person who wishes for salvation will attain salvation. There are many Tirthas in the three worlds bestowing cherished desires. All of them resort to Prayaga when the Sun is in the Capricorn.

69B-70A. By taking holy dip in Haridvara, Prayaga and at the confluence of meeting of Ganga and the ocean, the devotee shall go to the city of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

70B-73A. О lady of beautiful eyes, the bath in the Sitasita in the month of Magha prevents the recurrence of births for hundreds and crores of Kalpas. A person who is truthful in speech, who has conquered anger, who has resorted to non-violence of the noblest type, who follows the path of virtue, who is conversant with realities, and who is engaged in what is beneficial to cows and Brahmanas, shall be liberated from sins by taking bath in the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna. He attains the cherished desires in full.

73B-76. In the month of Magha, in the VenI (the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna), every day one shall attain that benefit which one attains by means of charitable gifts of a thousand Bharas of gold in Kurukshetra during a solar eclipse. One who takes holy dip in Prayaga for three days in the month of Magha attains that benefit which is derived when a hundred thousand cows are given away in charity. One who takes a holy bath in Prayaga for three days in the month of Magha, attains that benefit (merit) which one may get in three hundred years by practising Yogic exercises. О chaste lady, even by means of a thousand horse-sacrifices, one does not attain that benefit which one gets by means of taking a holy dip in Prayaga for three days in the month of Magha.

77. Formerly, Kaficana-malinl1 gave a Raksasa, out of love, the benefit of taking the holy dip during the month of Magha, for three days. That sinner was liberated thereby.

78. Within three days the sins were dispelled. She attained Deva-hood by means of that merit which resulted from the holy bath for twentyseven days.

79. She became the favourite friend of Girija (goddess Parvatl) and sported about in Kailasa. Thanks to the grace of Prayaga, she became one who could remember previous births.

80. Formerly, in the country of Avanti, there was a king named Vatsaraja. He went to the banks of the river Narmada and performed the Rajasuya sacrifice.

81. Sixteen horses were used there. They were tied to as many golden sacrificial posts where they shone with gold ornaments. He too duly appeared refulgent.

82. He gave heaps of food-grains, comparable to mountains, to Brahmanas. He had full faith. He was a great devotee of the deity. He bestowed cows and gold.

83. At that time there was a foolish Brahmana named Bhadraka. He was born of a base family. He worked like a husbandman. His conduct was base and lowly. He was excluded from all holy rites.

84. He was disgusted with the work of ploughing. He was deceived by his own kinsmen. Afflicted by his misfortune, he went out of his house and wandered here and there.

85. Fortunately, wisdom dawned in him and he went to Prayaga. With Mahamaghi in view (i.e. in the month of Magha) he took a holy bath there for three days.

1. Some episodes about the greatness of Prayiga are given in w. 77-90. I could not trace these episodes elsewhere and am inclined to regard these names as fictitious.

86. By the mere ablution, he became sinless. He became an excellent Brahmana. Returning from Prayaga he went back to the place from where he had come.

87. The king (Vatsaraja) and this Brahmana died simultaneously. They went simultaneously and in a similar manner to the presence of the king of the Devas.

88. They had the same brilliance. They had the same comely features and strength. They had similar groups of female attendants. The ornaments, the divine vehicle, the garland of Parijata flowers, dance, music, everything was similar to both of them.

89-90. After seeing this, what else should I say about the greatness of this holy centre?

О gentle lady, the month of Magha in the Sitasita is not equal to Rajasuya sacrifice (but is superior) to it. The confluence of the white and blue or black waters extends to twenty bow lengths. By taking the holy dip in this during the month of Magha one does not return to the world. But even after the Rajasuya sacrifice one is likely to return (from heavenly pleasures) to Samsara.

91. Kambala and Asvatara are two serpents lying on the extensive banks of the Yumuna. By taking bath there and drinking the water thereof one is liberated from all sins.

92. After going to that spot of the intelligent Mahadeva a man redeems ten previous and ten subsequent generations.

93-94. There is a well there which is well-known by the name of Pratisthana. The devotee should take bath there and perform Tarpana rites for Pitrs and Devas with full mental control. He must conquer anger. He who thus stays here for three nights, shall be purified of all sins. He shall derive the benefit of a horse-sacrifice.

95-96. To the north of Pratisthana and to the east of Bhagirathi, there is a Tirtha named Hamsapratapana. It is well-known in all the worlds. By the mere ablution therein, the benefit of a horse-sacrifice is derived. He is honoured in the heaven as long as the moon and the sun shine.

This is the Ve(ii Kfetra in Prayaga according to Pd. P. Sitdsita is also called Vesht.

The reading in Pd. P.I. 43.27 is Tamund dak^e-tafe ‘on the j3outh bank of Yamuna’.

97-98. Thereafter, he should go to Bhogavati, to the north ofVasuki that is remembered as the greatest Tirtha named Dasasvameidhika. By the rite of ablution therein, the devotee derives the benefit of a horse-sacrifice. He becomes rich, handsome, and a liberal and virtuous donor.

99. By going to that place, one attains that benefit which a master of the four Vedas obtains, which those who speak truth derive, and which one attains as a result of nonviolence.

100. On the northern bank of the Payati (?) and to the south of Prayaga, there is the Tirtha named Rnamocanaka. It is remembered as the greatest holy centre.

101. One who spends a night there and takes a holy dip therein, is liberated from all indebtedness. He attains the heavenly world. He becomes immortal himself.

102. He who takes bath and misses three meals and continues like this for three months, is purified of sins of betrayal of confidence. (Within three months, he becomes pure).

103. By glorifying the holy centre, the devotee obtains merit, by visiting it he sees auspicious things, by plunging in and drinking its waters, he sanctifies upto the seventh generation.

104. When the sun is in Capricorn, during the month of Magha, if one does not take bath before the sunrise how can one be liberated from sins? How can one go to heaven?

105. One shall shave off one’s head at Prayaga, one shall offer Pindas into the Ganga. One shall give charitable gifts at Kurukshetra, one shall eschew body at Varanasi.

106. If one has shaved off the head at Prayaga of what avail is offerings of Pindas at Gaya,1 or death at KasI or the giving of charitable gifts at Kurukshetra?

1. This is a misprint for ‘Gaya’ as can be seen from the quotation of this verse in Tirtha-cintamaWi p. 32 and elsewhere. For offering Pindas at Gaya is unanimously recommended.

107. If the year is not over after a pilgrimage and the shortage is upto two months, the pilgrim shall assiduously perform the rites of tonsure and observance of fast again.

108. In regard to all the women who go to Prayaga, the rite of tonsure shall be performed thus. All the hairs are collected together and two Angulas at the tip are cut off.1

109. All the sins of persons cling to the roots of hairs and stay there even after the holy dip in the Tirtha. Hence they must be shaved off.

110-111 A. (?) If the new moon day, Sravana constellation and Arkapata (the fall of the Sun? sunset?) coincide in the month of Pausa or Magha it should be known as Ardhodaya Parva. It is superior to a hundred solar festive occasions.

О daughter of Brahma, if it is slightly less (in these respects), it is remembered as Mahodaya Parva.

111B-112. If one is able to be at Prayaga at the time of dawn on the seventh day in the bright half of the month of Magha, it is on a par with a thousand solar eclipses. If (one is at Prayaga) during the tropical transit of the sun, the merit is a crore times more. During the equinoxes the merit is a hundred thousand times more.

113. During the Sadaati (meritorious hour) the benefit is a thousand times more. So also in the case of Vishnupadi (meritorious hour). One shall give charitable gifts at Prayaga in accordance with the extent of one’s resources.

114-117. О daughter of Brahma, thereby the benefit from the Tirtha increases. If any one wishes to offer a cow at the confluence of the Gariga and Yamuna, he must offer as Pratigraha (gift) a gold piece, a jewel or a pearl. О auspicious lady, if any one wishes to give a reddish, brown or a tawny coloured cow, he must cover its horns with gold, the hoofs with silver and the neck with a cloth. It must be a milch cow with a calf. It must be given to a Vedic Scholar in accordance with the injunctions. He must be a good-mannered person wearing white clothes, quiescent, knower of Dharma and a master of the Vedas. That cow must be given at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna.

1. This is called Vepi-ddna, Even women whose husbands are alive offer the tresses of their hair measuring two Angulas, to the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna (called Vepi).

The sun’s entrance into the four signs viz. Pisces, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius.

The sun’s passage into the zodiacal signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.

118-120. Costly clothes and different kinds of jewels (too must be given). The devotee if honoured in the heavenly world as many thousand years as there are hairpores in the bodies of the cow and the calf. The cow too is born there where the donor takes his rebirth. Thanks to that rite, the donors do not see hell. They reach the northern Kurus and rejoice for long periods of time.

121. It is better to give a milch cow than hundreds and thousands of dry cows. That cow alone will redeem the wife, sons and servants of the donor.

122-123A. Hence among all charitable gifts, the gift of a cow is specially praiseworthy. It is the cow alone that protects one in impassable, dangerous, terrible transmission of great sins. Hence the cow should be given as a gift to an excellent Brahmana.

123B-125A. One shall not accept monetary gifts in Tirthas and holy shrines. As long as that amount (in case he has accepted) remains with him and he benefits by it, the holy centre is of no avail to him. When there are special indications and portents, the Brahmana shall guard himself against mistakes in his own activities and in those pertaining to the Pitrs (Such as Sraddha) as well as in the worship of the deities.

125B-126. He who makes a gift of a virgin (i e. gives her in marriage) on the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna does not see the terrible hell, thanks to that rite. He goes to the northern Kurus and rejoices for long endless periods of time.

127-129A. He obtains wives and righteous sons endowed with handsome features. (Special austerities). A man who stands topsy-turvy with outstretched arms and inhales smoke from below is honoured in the heavenly world for a hundred thousand years. Falling from the heavenly abode, the man becomes an Agnihotrin. After enjoying extensive pleasures, he attains that same holy centre once again.

129B-130. (This holy sacred place and sphere of Prajapati has the following boundaries:) Prayaga extends from Pratisthana up to the deep pool of Vasuki in front of Prajapati and up to the two Nagas Kambala and Asvatara and the Naga Bahumulaka. This is known in the three worlds as the sacred spot of Prajapati.

131. By taking the holy bath there, people go to heaven. Those who are dead there are not reborn. Not only through the words of the Vedas but through the popular saying this is justified.

132. The soul goes up in its flight as a result of the death in Prayaga. There are ten thousand TIrthas and another sixty crores.

133-134A. О daughter of Brahma, their presence at that place is glorified. He who abandons his life at the confluence of Gariga and Yamuna attains the goal which a practising Yogin who is intelligent and who traverses the path of the good, attains.

134B-136. A man may be oppressed, afflicted, indigent or furious. But if he eschews life after reaching the confluence of Gariga and Yamuna, he rejoices in the heaven in the midst of Gandharvas and Apsaras. He goes there on aerial chariots having the lustre and colour of molten gold and the refulgence of the Sun. He attains all cherished desires, so say the leading sages.

137. From slumber he is wakened by means of songs and sounds of musical instruments. He is honoured in heaven as long as he does not remember about the birth.

Prayagat — in the text means ‘from Prayaga’. If emended a a-Prayagam as found in the same verses in the Mt. P. 104.5 and Pd. P. 1.39 69-70 it gives better sense. The reading in Mt. P. is accepted In the above translation.

138. When his Karmans are exhausted and he falls from heaven, he comes back (to the world of human beings) and is born in a family that is rich and flourishing and that is full of gold and jewels.

139-141. Remembering the same thing he goes to the world of Vishnu. He who abandons life after reaching the root of the (‘Eternal’) banyan tree goes beyond all the worlds to the world of Rudra. The twelve Adityas (Suns) shine there resorting to Rudra. The entire universe comes out (?). He burns at the root of the banyan tree (?). О gentle lady, lord Hari honoured and kept in front by Prajapati lies down on its leaf in the form of an infant child sucking the big toe.

142-144A. Listen to the benefit attained by the person who abandons his life in the beautiful bank of the river Urvasi (UrvaSi-pulina) which is large and whitened like swans (due to the presence of flocks of Swans. О daughter of Brahma, for sixtysix thousand years he shall stay in the heavenly world along with his Pitrs.

144B-146. О lady of beautiful eyes, when he sees Urvasi in the divine world, he is honoured continuously by the Devas, sages, Gandharvas and Kinnaras. Thereafter, when the Karmans are exhausted and he falls from the heaven he comes here (on the Earth). He obtains a hundred beloved wives like Urvasi. He shall be the husband of many thousands of women amidst whom he sports.

147. О MohinI, he shall be the enjoyer and administrator of ten thousand villages. He is wakened from his sleep (every day) by the sounds of girdles and anklets.

148-149. After enjoying extensive pleasures, he attains the same Tlrtha once again. Perpetually wearing white clothes and invariably subjugating the sense-organs, he takes only one meal a day. By continuing thus for a month he becomes the lord of Yoga. He obtains a hundred women bedecked in gold.

The text in NP: nirgacchanti jagat sarvam vafa-miile sa dahyate j translated above is not satisfactory. We should rather accept the reading vafamiilam na dahyate / given in the Mt. P. 105.12b. It means (although at the end of the world, the 12 suns resorting to Rudra burn down the whole universe the Banyan tree (on which Vishi?u is to rest as a child) is not burnt.

150-151 A. He will be the master of great pleasures over the Earth extending up in the oceans. He shall be endowed with wealth and food-grains. He will be a donor continuously.

151b-153a. He who abandons life after reaching the holy place called ‘Kotitlrtha’ is honoured in the heavenly world for a thousand crores of years. Thereafter, when the Karmans are exhausted, the excellent man comes here from heaven and is born in a family that is highly praiseworthy and endowed with gold, jewels and pearls. He is born a handsome person.

153b-154. Willingly or unwillingly he who dies in Ganga, attains the abode of Sakra. He never goes to hell. He rides in an aerial chariot to which swans and Sarasa birds are yoked

155-156a. He sleeps in the midst of Apsaras and is wakened by them- О daughter of Baahma when the karmans are exhausted, he comes here from heaven. He chooses his birth in the family of Yogins and prosperous peoples.

156b-159a. A person who is not short of any limb, who is free from ailments and who has all the five sense-organs functioning perfectly shall immolate himself in the fire of dried cowdung cakes at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna. He is honoured in the heavenly world for as many thousands of years as there are pores of hairs in the body of that intelligent devotee. Falling from heaven thereafter he becomes the lord of Jambudvlpa. After enjoying extensively many pleasures he attains the same Tirtha once again.

159b-161. He who chops off his own body and gives it to birds, is honoured in the Somaloka (world of the moon) for a hundred thousand years. Thereafter, he comes here from that world and becomes a righteous king endowed with all good qualities, comely features and learning. He speaks pleasing words and he remains pure. After enjoying extensive pleasures, he goes again to the same Tirtha.

162-163. A person who has adopted holy observance AnaSaka (non destructive) and who dies anywhere in the area of Prayaga which extends to five Yojanas, redeems seven previous generations and fourteen subsequent generations. He uplifts himself.

164-166. There is a Tirtha well-known as Agnitirtha on the southern bank of Yamuna. On the Western bank is the Tirtha of Dharmaraja known as Naraka.

165. By taking holy bath therein people go to heaven. Those who die there are not reborn. On the northern bank of Yamuna, there are many Tirthas that destroy sins, О daughter of Brahma. They are resorted to by prominent sages. Those who take holy dip there go to heaven. Those who die there are not reborn.

167. Ganga and Yamuna are remembered as yielding similar fruits. Only because of its seniority, Ganga is worshipped everywhere

168-169a. О lady of Devas, Yogic power may or may not be attained by one who gives all jewels to the Brahmanas. But surely all these befall a person who dies at Prayaga.

169b-172. One may be in one’s own land, or in a forest, or in a foreign country or in his house. If he dies remembering Prayaga, he attains the world of Brahma where the ground is golden. There are trees that yield all cherished desires, as their fruit. There are sages there. He sports about along with Siddhas and Gandharvas in the auspicious and beautiful bank ofMandakini (Ganga). He is worshipped by Devas. Thereafter, he comes here and becomes the lord of Jambudvipa.

173-174. He is a righteous soul and is fully endowed with all good qualities. He attains the same holy Tirtha once again. Thus the entire greatness of Prayaga has been described to you. It is conducive to happiness and salvation. What other essence do you wish to hear?

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