Chapter 89

“Dhaumya continued, ‘I shall describe to thee those sacred spots capableof producing merit that lie on the west, in the country of the Anarttas,O Bharata, there, flows in a westward course the sacred river Narmada,graced by Priyangu and mango trees, and engarlanded with thickest ofcanes. All the tirthas and sacred spots, and rivers and woods andforemost of mountains that are in the three worlds, all the gods with theGrandsire, along with the Siddhas, the Rishis and the Charanas, O best ofthe Kurus, always come, O Bharata, to bathe in the sacred waters of theNarmada. And it hath been heard by us that the sacred asylum of the MuniVisravas, had stood there, and that there was born the lord of treasures,Kuvera, having men for his vehicles. There also is that foremost ofhills, the sacred and auspicious Vaidurya peak abounding with trees thatare green and which are always graced with fruit and flowers. O lord ofthe earth, on the top of that mountain is a sacred tank decked withfull-blown lotus and resorted to by the gods and the Gandharvas. Many arethe wonders, O mighty monarch, that may be seen on that sacred mountainwhich is like unto heaven itself and which is visited by celestialRishis. There, O subjugator of hostile cities, is the sacred river calledViswamitra belonging to the royal sage of that name and which abounds, Oking, in many sacred tirthas. It was on the banks of this river, thatYayati, the son of Nahusha, (fell from heaven) among the virtuous, andobtained once more the eternal regions of the righteous. Here also arethe well-known lake called Punya, the mountain called Mainaka, and thatother mountain called Asita abounding in fruits and roots. And here alsois the sacred asylum of Kakshasena, and O Yudhishthira, the asylum ofChyavana also, which is famed over every country, O son of Pandu! In thatspot, O exalted one, men attain to (ascetic) success without severeausterities. Here also, O mighty king, is the region called Jamvumarga,inhabited by birds and deer, and which constitutes the retreat ofascetics with souls under control, O thou foremost of those that havesubdued their senses! Next lie the exceedingly sacred Ketumala, andMedhya ever graced with ascetics, and, O lord of earth, Gangadwara, andthe well-known woods of Saindhava which are sacred and inhabited by theregenerate ones. There also is the celebrated tank of the Grandsire,called Pushkara, the favourite abode of the Vaikanasas, and Siddhas andRishis. Moved by the desire of obtaining its protection, the Creator sangthis verse at Pushkara, O chief of the Kurus and foremost of virtuousmen! If a person of pure soul purposes a pilgrimage to the Pushkaras inimagination even, he becometh purged from all his sins and rejoiceth inheaven!'”