Chapter 29 - Kālindītīrtha: Efficacy of Yamunā

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Nārada said:

1-18. O lord of kings, then a man should go to the excellent (holy place called) Kālindītīrtha. O king, having bathed there one does not meet with misfortune. O best among men, one obtains that fruit (by bathing) in Yamunā which he gets (by bathing) at Puṣkara, Kurukṣetra, Brahmāvartta, Pṛthūdaka, Avimukta, Suvarṇākhya. Those in whose heart there is a great attachment for heavenly pleasures or who desire (long) life, good health, wealth, handsomeness, youth and virtues, should not give up the water of Yamunā. (These things can be had) especially by a bath in Yamunā, O best one. Those who are afraid of hell etc. and those who have a dread of poverty, should with all efforts take a bath in Yamunā. O Yudhiṣṭhira, except the water of Yamunā there is nothing else for (i.e., which is capable of) washing the mud of poverty, sins, misfortune. Deeds done without faith give half (i.e., a partial) fruit. But a bath in Yamunā gives the entire fruit. O king, he who with or without a desire bathes in the water of Yamunā, does not see (i.e., experience) miseries here (i.e., in this world) or in the next world. As the moon wanes and waxes in the two fortnights, in the same way by bathing in Yamunā sin perishes and religious merit increases. As in the ocean various gems are easily obtained, so (long) life, wealth, wife, riches are possible for (i.e. are obtained by) him. As the desire-yielding cow gives the desired object, or as the desire-yielding gem gives whatever is thought of, in the same way a bath in Yamunā gives all (the objects of) desire. In Kṛtayuga penance was great knowledge; in Tretāyuga sacrifice (was important); in Dvāparayuga and Kaliyuga giving (gifts) is (fruitful). (But) Yamunā is always auspicious. O king, for all the castes and for all the stages of life a bath in (the water) of Yamunā indeed showers piety in streams. In this country (called) Bharata, especially (named) as the land of religious rites, the life of men not bathing in Yamunā is said to be fruitless. As on the new moon day there is no affluence in the orb of the moon in the sky, in the same way no act shines (i.e., is effective) without a bath in Yamunā. Hari or Keśava (i.e., Viṣṇu) is not so much pleased by means of vows, gifts or penance as he is pleased by means of just a bath in Yamunā. There is no lustre like that of the sun. In the same way there is nothing like a bath in Yamunā. Equally potent are the sacrificial rites. For pleasing Vāsudeva, for removing all sins and for obtaining (i.e., going to) heaven men should bathe in Yamunā.

19-25. What is the use of protecting the very well nourished and strong body which is unstable without having a bath in Yamunā? The body is a column of bones, a union of sinews, filled with flesh and blood, put together with skin and having a foul smell, full of urine and feces, pervaded with old age, grief and misery, a weak abode of diseases, the source of attachment, transitory, and the resort of all blemishes, having the affliction of the sin of other’s obligations (paropakārapāpārtiparadroha?), deceiving others, and jealous of others; (it is) greedy, wicked, cruel, ungrateful and momentary also. It is pityless, difficult to be arrested, wicked and defiled by the disorder of the three humours of the body.^[1] (It is) impure, tormenting, foul-smelling, and deluded by the three kinds of miseries.^[2] It is by nature engaged in impiety; it is full of a hundred thirsts (i.e., desires); it remains at the door of hell in the form of passion, anger and great greed. It is full of worms, ordure, ashes etc., useful in the end (pariṇāmaguṇāvaham?). Such a body is useless without a bath in Yamunā.

26-33. Those who are without a bath in Yamunā are born to die only like the bubbles on water or mock eggs among birds. A brāhmaṇa not devoted to Viṣṇu is doomed; a śrāddha without the (offering of) piṇḍas is worthless; a kṣatriya not friendly with a brāhmaṇa is miserable; a family without good practices is condemned. Good conduct is doomed with (i.e., due to) hypocrisy. Penance is worthless due to anger. Unstable knowledge is worthless. Sacred knowledge is doomed due to negligence. A woman is ruined due to her devotion to (someone) else (but her husband). A celibate is ruined by a woman. A sacrifice is worthless when the fire is not blazing. Devotion with deceit is worthless. A maiden having a dependent is doomed. Cooking for oneself (alone) is worthless. Dependence on śūdra’s food is useless. The wealth of a miser is doomed. Learning without study is useless. Contradictory advice is lost. A sacred place (used for) livelihood is tormenting. A vow (used for) livelihood is tormenting. A vow (used for) living is worthless. False words are worthless; so also those that are full of slander. A deliberation going to six ears (i.e., to a third person) is doomed. Muttering (the names of a deity) without concentration is worthless. Giving gifts to a brāhmaṇa who is not learned is worthless. Atheists are doomed. All that is done for (obtaining) the other world without faith is worthless.

34-46. O king, as the life of the poor people is worthless in this world, in the same way their life is useless without a bath in Kālindī. All minor and major sins are reduced to ashes by taking a bath in Yamunā, O king. When a man has gone to Yamunā, all sins tremble. Best men, if they bathe in the water of Yamunā, shine like fires. As the moon is free from clouds, they are free from all sins. As fire burns the sacred fuel, in the same way a bath there would burn soft or harsh, small or big sin committed by speech, mind or physical acts. O best king, the sin committed through negligence or deliberately or unknowingly would perish just on bathing in Yamunā. The sinless ones go to heaven, and the greatest sinners become pure. No doubt should be raised about the bath in the water of Yamunā. O king, all are entitled to bathing here and to devotion to Viṣṇu. Goddess Yamunā always destroys the sins of all. This alone is a great hymn; this is a great penance. The excellent bath in Yamunā is a great expiation. Men have a mind to bathe in Kālindī (i.e., Yamunā) due to the practice in other (i.e., previous) existencies as, O king, cleverness in metaphysical knowledge is due to a life-long practice. The bath in Yamunā is efficacious in washing the smearing of the mud of the worldly existence. It is (most) purifying among the purifiers and is excellent. O king, those who have bathed there (i.e., in Yamunā) which gives (i.e., satisfies) all desires, enjoy auspicious pleasures resembling the planets like the sun and the moon. Yamunā, when in contact with (i.e., flowing by) Mathurā is said to be giving salvation. Kālindī (i.e., Yamunā) increases (a man’s) religious merit.

47-51. At other places Yamunā is holy and removes great sins, (but) in contact with Mathurā the deity (i.e., Yamunā) gives (creates in one’s mind) devotion for Viṣṇu. If a man full of devotion bathes in Kālindī, he lives near Viṣṇu for a crore of thousand kalpas. (Even) a man devoid of knowledge indeed attains salvation. His manes are pleased; and being pleased they live in heaven for hundreds of kalpas. O king, for men who drink the holy water of Yamunā what is the use of taking a thousand collections of the five products of a cow? What is also the use of resorting to a crore of thousands of sacred places? Giving (gifts) and (performing) a sacrifice there would become a crore-fold effective.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Doṣatraya: Disorder of the three humours of the body, viz. wind, bile, and phlegm.

[2]:

Tāpatraya: The three kind of miseries which human beings have to suffer in this world, viz. Ādhyātmika (caused by the mind), Ādhibhautika (caused by animals), and Ādhidaivika (caused by fate).