Verses 101-200

101. Having reached there, that king of the serpents saw his father, pressed his feet and saluted him after announcing his own name.

102. The father smelled his forehead and honoured him in the proper manner. Directed then by him (the father), he sat on the matting made of Kusa grass.

103. O king, listen to what the seated Naga communicated respectfully to the father Kasyapa, the abode of all penances.

104. 'Having heard that you - lover of Dharma (piety) - are visiting the sacred places, I, with a desire to serve, have immediately approached your honour.

105. O Brahman, all the sacred places in the eastern, the southern and the western (part of the) country have been seen by you. Let us go now to the northern direction.

106. O honour-giver, there are holy places of pilgrimage in Madra country and on the Himalaya - the best of the mountains.

107-8. (There is) the auspicious Vipasa, the pacifyer of sins and giver of eternal bliss, the river Devahrada, a bath in which gives the heaven, the sin-removing god Hara Haririsvara and the holy confluence near Karavirapura.

109. At that place the Devahrada joins the Vipasa, the best of the rivers. In Ihe Vipasa, there is the perpetually holy Kalikasrama.

110-11. (There is) the holy Iravati, the destroyer of all Sins. Sixty thousand sacred places dwell in single Iravati, specially in Revati (Naksatra) and on the eighth day (of a fortnight ).

112-13. (There are) Kumbhavasunda possessed of holy water, the river Devika possessed of holy water, the great river Visvamitra which is sacred always, (the river) called Udda which is highly sacred and the various confluences (of the rivers). The religious merit (lies) in the Iravati and also in the Devika.

114-118. Brought downby your honour for doing favour to the Madras, it is the goddess Uma who is famous on the earth as Devika and by seeing whom a man certainly becomes purified in this world. (There are) Indramarga, Somatirtha, tbe holy Ambujana, Suvarnabindu, the auspicious abode of Hara, the sin-destroying abode of Skanda, the highly sacred lord of Uma at Rudratirtha, Durgadvara, possessed of holy water, Kotitirtha, the sacred place of Rudra, Kamakhya and Puspanyasa. O honour-giver, (there is) Hamsapada pronounced as holy and so also Rsirupa.

119. In the area extending over four krosas, there is Devikatirtha at all the places where every well and pool is holy in all respects.

120. (There is) the sacred river Apaga and the holy Tausi which pleases the sun. There is the Candrabhaga the best of the rivers - whose water is cool like the rays of the moon.

121. Vaivatitlamukha is the meritorious holy place of the Candrabhaga and so also is the sin-destroying Sankhamardala.

122. (There are) Guhyesvara, Satamukha, Istikapatha, the holy Kadambesa and the area around it.

123. The area extending from the holy Satamukhaupto the holy place Guhyesvara, is equal, in holiness, to Varanasi or is even higher than that.

124. The great river Candrabhaga is always holy everywhere but is specially so on the thirteenth of the bright half of Magha in conjlmction with Pusya.

125. All the sacred places on the earth, includiug the seas and the lakes, shall go to the Candrabhaga, on the thirteenth of the bright half of Magha.

126. Vastrapatha is stated to be holy and so also the god Chagales'vara, the second Bhaumi and also her birth place.

127. The sacred place of the lake which is an incarnation of the body of Sati, is the lake Visnupada famous Kramasara, the destroyer of all the sins.

128. O sage, please visit immediately these and other holy places by bathing at which, even the evil-minded human beings are freed (from the sins).'

129. Brhadasva (said): Addressed thus he whose desire had already been aroused, said "Let it be so" and went to those holy places in the company of Nila.

130. Having crossed the river-goddesses Yamuna and Sarasvati, he visited Kuruksetra where Sanniti is famous.

131-132. O sinless, a multitude of the holy places is called Sanniti on the earth. It is, verily, the spot to which all the tirthas including the seas and the lakes always go in the end of the dark half of the month.

133. He, who performs Sraddha there at the time when the sun is eclipsed by Rahu, obtains the best award of (performing) a thousand horse-sacrifices.

134. Having seen that Sanniti, (he saw) Cakratirtha also about which a verse sung by Narada is current on the earth.

135. "Oh ! the persistence of the people for the sun-eclipse ! The religious merit obtained at Cakratirtha is ten times more than the eclipse.

136. Having visited thc sacred places called Cakra and Prthudaka, he saw the holy Visnupada and Amaraparpata.

137. Afterwards, having crossed the rivers gatadru and Ganga, the sage reached Arjuna's hermitage and Devasunda.

138. Having crossed the illustrious and sin-destroying Vipas'a, Kas'yapa saw the whole country desolate at that time.

139-140, Seeing the country of the Madras as desolate, he spoke to the Naga, '~O Nila, tell me - the inquirer - as to why this country of the Madras has been deserted ? This has always been charming, devoid of the calamity of famine and full of the wealth of grains !"

141. Nila said: "O venerable one, all this is known to you that formerly a demon-child named Jalodbhava - the son of Sangraha - was reared up by me.

142-143. Now that impudent Sellow, who obtained boons from Brahma of imperceptible birth, ignores me like anything and I am incapable of keeping him under control due to the boon of the lord of three worlds.

144. By that villain of evil intellect - eater of human flesh - this whole country of the Madras has been depopulated.

145-146. O lord, the countries rendered desolate by him are mainly Darvabhisara, Gandhara, Juhundara, Antargiri, Bahirgiri and those of the Sakas, the Khasas, the Tanganas and the Mandavas. O venerable one, make up your mind to check him for the welfare of the world.

147. Brhadasva (spoke): Addressed thus he said "Be it so" and after taking bath in the holy places all around, he came to that best limpid lake in the country of Sati.

148. O king, after taking bath there, he gave up walking on foot and went to the eternal world of Brahma, merely by his own power.

149-150. He went along with Nila, the high-souled king of the Nagas. O controller of the enemies, both of them reached the abode of Brahma and made obeisance to the lotus-born god and the gods Vasudeva, Is'vara and highly intelligent Ananta, who were present there by chance.

151-152. Honoured by them, these two told the activities of Jalodbhava (Water-born) . Then the god Pitamaha said to this Naga-lord and the sage of unparalleled valour, "we shall go to Naubandhana to subdue him.

153. Then the god Kesava will undoubtedly kill him. "Having heard this, Hari, the killer of the strong enemies, went (mounted on) Tarksya.

154. O sinless, after him went Hara, mounted on the bull, along with his wife. Brahma went mounted on the swan and the two Nagas mounted on the cloud.

155. Kas'yapa went by his supernatural power. Indra heard that and, in the company of the hosts of gods, went to that place where Kes'ava had gone.

156-158. Yama, Agni, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, Nirrti, Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Vis'vedevas and the hosts of Maruts; Agvins, Bhrgus, Sadhyas, the sons of Angiras, the illustrious sages, Gandharvas, the hosts of heavenly maidens; all the wives of the gods, the mothers of the gods, the hosts of Vidyadharas, Yaksas, seas and rivers (all went there ).

159. Ganga went mounted on crocodile, Yamuna on tortoise, Satadru on bull and Sarasvati on buffalo.

160. O King ! Vipas'a (went) mounted on horse, Iravati on elephant, Candrabhaga= and Sindhu on tiger.

161. Devika (went) mounted on wild ox, Sarayu on deer, Mandakini on man and Payosni on goat.

162. O king, Narmada (went) mounted on peacock, Gomati on Saranga deer, Godavari on sbeep and Kampana on swan.

163. O king, Gandaki (went) mounted on he crane, Kaveri on camel, the holy Iksumati on crocodile and the holy Sita on she crane.

164. Lauhitya ( went ) mounted on Camara deer, Vanksu - the fast going one - on Kroda (hog), Hladini on partridge and Hradini on cock.

165. Pavani (went) mounted on a horse, Sona on a segpent, Krsnaveni on cloud and Bhuvena on hare.

166. These and other rivers also went mounted on their respective mounts. All these, with a desire to see fight, followed the lord of the world.

167. Having reached Naubandhana, Kesava, verily, took a firm stand.

168. Hearing the sound of the retinue of the gods, the evil-minded demon, knowing himself to be imperishable in the water, did not come out.

169. Having come to know that he would not come out, the pleased Madhusudana entered Naubandhana, in the company of the gods.

170. Rudra (took stand) on Naubandhana peak, Hari on the Soulhern peak, Brahma on the Northern peak and the gods and the Asuras followed them.

171. Thus, they entered the mountain. Then the pious- minded god Janardana, with a view to kill the demon, said to Ananta:

172. "Breaking forth Himalaya today with the plough, make soon this lake devoid of water."

173. Brhadasva (sadi): Then Ananta, resembling a mountain and possessed of lustre equal to that of the full moon, expanded himself, covering the earth and the heaven and terrifying the hosts of demons all around.

174. Dressed in blue, wearing diadem fastened with gold, worshipped by all the gods, he, broke forth Himalaya, the best of the mountains on earth, with plough.

175-180. When the king of the best mountains had been broken, the water flowed forth hurriedly with force, terrifying all the beings with its violent rush and sound and overflowing the tops of the mountains with curved waves like Himalaya touching the sky. When the water of the lake was disappearing, Water-born practised magic. He created darkness all around. O hero among men, the world became quite invisible.

Then the god S'iva held the sun and the moon in his two hands. In a twinkling of the eye, the world was brought to light and all the darkness was destroyed.

When the darkness had vanished, unfathomable Hari, assuming another body with the power of Yoga, fought with the demon and witnessed that fight through a different body.

There was a terrible fight between Visnu and the demon, with trees and peaks of mountains. All those hosts of gods ......

( Hari) cut off, forcibly, the head of the demon and then Brahma obtained gratification.

181. Brahma, Visnu and S'ambhu gave their own names to the peaks on which they had taken their stand, on the earth.

182-183. O best among men, they said to the high peaks of the high-souled king of the mountains: "Whoever shall see you after taking bath in this lake called Kramasara, shall see three of us on the mountain and will go to heaven."

184. Brhada¤va (said): See, O king, these are those peak - Brahma, Visnu, and Mahesvar. That which is Naubandhana peak is S'ankara.

185. The one on its right side is celebrated as Hari and the left one as Brahma. Even the evil-doers are freed by seeing these (peaks)

186-187. To the north of that which is proclaimed as Visnupada in Kramasara, Brahma - the best of the gods - himself erected a hermitage. The venerable sage Kasyapa constructed a hermitage in the western half.

188. Mighty Mahadeva himself erected a hermitage at the spot where Visnu stood and obtained victory at that time.

189. In the other part of that place, the honourable plough-holder Ananta, abiding by the instructions of Vasudeva, constructed a great hermitage.

190. On the western side of Mahadeva's hermitage, the sun and the moon, honoured by the gods, constructed their beautiful and holy hermitages.

191. At a distance of one Yojana lessened by one-fourth of a Yojana from Mahadeva's hermitage, Hari erected his hermitage celebrated as Narasimha.

192-193. Afterwards, other gods erected their hermitages, each one separately, in the lake or on the waterless place. The sages whose wealth is penance erected hermitages, and the rivers created several places of pilgrimage. So did the Gandharvas, the Apasaras, the Yaksas and the mountain-kings along with the Guhyakas.

194. Visnu and Rudra - the prominent ones in the world - made their abodes there along with the lotus-born (Brahma). The whole world has made its abode there. The country is meritorious and the holiest.

195. Then, the Sudarsana wheel - intoxicated with the blood of Jalodbhava - wandered in that deserted land and was caught by gankara.

196. With discus in his hand, he went where (stood) the god Janardana. Then laughing heartily, Hari said to that god S'ankara.

197. "O divme one, hand over the discus - destroyer of the hosts of the Daityas to me." S'ankara (too) said in a joke to Hari who was laughing.

198. "Wandering at its will it has been found by me by chance. O Janardana, I shall return your discuss on the receipt of a gift."

199-200. "Be it so", said the destroyer of Mahdu and received the discus. O king, this is the place you stand on now, where Hari - the best of the gods - made a joke and got erected his own statue in that pose.