Chapter 22 - An Eulogy of Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Prayāga

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Mahādeva said:

1-5. O best sage, I shall narrate the importance of Gaṅgā, as it has been told, by just listening to which sin perishes at that moment only. He who would utter (the name) ‘Gaṅgā’ even from (a distance of) hundreds of yojanas, is freed from all sins and goes to Viṣṇu’s heaven. O Nārada, the river has risen from the lotus-like feet (of Viṣṇu), is well-known by the name Gaṅgā, and she destroys large heaps of sins. (There are other rivers like) Narmadā, Sarayū, so also the river Vetravatī, Tāpī, Payoṣṇī, Candrā, Vipāsā, Karmanāśinī, Puṣyā, Pūrṇā, Dīpā, Vidīpā and Sūryatejasā.

6-10. A man obtains that fruit which he certainly gets by giving a thousand bulls in a moment by seeing Gaṅgā. This Gaṅgā is especially very meritorious for those who have killed brāhmaṇas. Gaṅgā smites the sins of those who are connected with (i.e. who have fallen into) a hell. O sinless one, a man obtains that fruit just by seeing Gaṅgā which is (obtained) at the time of the lunar eclipse or the solar eclipse. O dear one, as the darkness goes away at the time of sunrise, similarly the sin (of a man) perishes due to the prowess of Gaṅgā. This (Gaṅgā) is always honoured in the world. She is pure. She destroys sins. She is always of the nature of auspiciousness. She was formerly produced by Viṣṇu. She is of a divine form. She is the mother. She is said to be the purifier of the helpless.

11-14. As Viṣṇu is (the best) of the gods, so is Gaṅgā the best river (among the rivers). For those men who regularly bathe in (the month of) Māgha, there is no grief for three hundred kalpas. There is no doubt that having bathed and drunk (water at the holy place by which) Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī flow, a man enjoys salvation.

Mahādeva said:

O lord, the talk which I affectionately do about you is your praise. What I eat is an offering to you. That I go is (due to) my being sent by you. That I sleep quickly at the pair of your lotus-like feet may be (treated as) my prostration (before you) in the manner of a staff. O lord, may you, the lord of the universe be pleased with whatever I do. This is that water of Yamunā, by seeing which, by saluting which, or by holding which on the head, men are freed.

15-18. O you daughter of the Sun, O you great river, men are overpowered by the dangers like poverty, diseases, death, due to the mundane existence, till they do not see your very blue water and hold it on their heads. Today that Gaṅgā, the recollection of which even from (the distance of) a lakh of yojanas instantly cuts off the streams of sins, overcomes the row of sins, the utterance of whose name purifies the world, will luckily come within (our) sight. The path of the divine river is reached with a delighted mind eager to see her. (Even) the first creator went to this divine river. It is not a great wonder that a bath, offering of sandhyā, a libation of water as the śrāddha ceremony, worship of gods, a śrāddha-ceremony, feeding the brāhmaṇas—all this becomes perfect (in this river) and gives delight to the lord. O Gaṅgā, you are Brahman turned into goddess (Gaṅgā); you give great delight. Accept my materials of worship. Remove my sin. My salutation to you.

19-21. O Bhāgīrathī, O glorious goddess, I salute you who carry the water which is righteousness in a liquid form, which is the essence of the nectar (flowing) from the lotus-like feet of the enemy of Mura, which is a boat of (i.e. helping to cross) the ocean of grief, which is a flight of steps leading to heaven and lauded by men and gods, which removes all sins, which has excellent merits, (and) which is lustrous. O Gaṅgā, O you heavenly river, O you who emancipate the people plunged in the ocean of sins, O you who have destroyed the mass of darkness (of sins) by means of the spotless lustre of your rising waves, O you, who purify the world, O goddess, purify (me) who am overcome with the fear of sins, who am a recipient of your favour; O mother, O you who give shelter to him who has sought it, protect me who am frightened. O (my) heart, O my friend, why do you trouble? I am alarmed due to the fear of (falling into) hell. ‘Why do you fear?’ Thus are the words heard of (i.e. uttered by) a sinner in the hell. Do not be afraid. If I have secured her who competes with the mountain (i.e. mass) of sins, then listen to my course (i.e. the course I shall have). How then will I have hell? What else do I have (as) righteousness or wealth?

22-23. In it (i.e. in the water of Gaṅgā) bathing is said to be the experience of joy due to the praise of the lord of all and others; seeing it the divine women are delighted due to the possibility of meeting gods and their lord. O daughter of Jahnu, those who engaged in curbs and restraints bathe in your water, clearly obtain godhead. Even those who do bad deeds (also secure godhead). In this (matter), the Vedas are the authority. O (my) intellect, may you have good thoughts like this. O (my) mind; well-being to you. O (my) feet, may you two be always remaining at the place (of the lord). May the eyes see well. O (my) speech, O you dear to me like my own life, may you, with the body of your virtues manifested, obtain the nourishment of beings, so that through all of you I obtained (i.e. would obtain) the agreeable, incomparable merit due to the holy place.

24-32. O best sacred place Prayāga, the ornament of the three rivers, viz. Śrī Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī, O lord of all, favour me. Take me up (to heaven). With your lustre destroy the darkness of ten kinds. O you lord of speech, O lord of pious men, that lord of the holy places, viz. Prayāga, whose white and blue bank the gods like Indra, the best among the learned resort to for the destruction of their sins is victorious. That lord of holy places, viz. Prayāga, where the divine river (i.e. Gaṅgā) having had confluence with Yamunā, shakes off the three torments of the people like the one relating to the self, is victorious. That lord of the holy places, viz. Prayāga, where the sacred fig tree, of a dark colour^[1], covers (the place) with its darkish shadow, and cuts off (i.e. removes) the dark (i.e. great) fatigue of the people when it is seen, is victorious. That lord of holy places, viz. Prayāga, the portion of religious merit, which Brahmā and others resort to after abandoning their act, and where Yama will cast his staff, is victorious. That lord of holy places, viz. Prayāga, resorting to which gods and divine sages—deities among men—do not care for heaven and the best kingdom on the earth, is victorious. It is well-known that (the holy place, Prayāga) destroys sins and that discerning takes place by the splendour of its name. That is the lord of holy places, viz. Prayāga, which holds all around the charming beauty of the chowries, where the white and black excellent rivers (i.e. Gaṅgā and Yamunā) meet, where the primitive fig tree exceedingly shines like an umbrella, is victorious. That lord of the holy places, viz. Prayāga, where at the confluence^[2] of Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī (that is underground) they take those who bathe there to the position of Brahmā merely by means of their offering sacrifice with sacred rice grains is victorious.

33-35. (That is the holy place Prayāga to go) where many persons of good words pass a crore of lives saying, ‘I (shall) go, I (shall) go’. Excellent years of those who long for the fixed one may pass there. He who cannot be described by words, and who is reached through lakhs of fortunate (occurrences), becomes ours (i.e. favours us) at Prayāga. Prayāga where sacrifices move (i.e. take place constantly) and which is marked by confluence (of the three rivers) becomes the guest of our sight (only) through good luck. Brahmā and others, after having properly and fully thought about the fruit of (sacrifices like) the horse-sacrifice, have prescribed this dear Prayāga for those men who long for heaven, who are worried as to how to reach the position of gods by means of hymns of the eulogy of the glory and hymns of praise (of gods), and who are unable to perform sacrifices in the Kali age. I have not performed the sandhya (prayer) due to faults like carelessness and impatience. Let the sandhya of me who am performing it here be accomplished for my entire life. Elsewhere also he, meditated upon in a penance where his greatness is loudly proclaimed by the distant people with love continuously gives the desired position without any expectation.

36-37. I salute in my heart that Prayāga which is surrounded by the confluence of the three rivers, the rich dust of which is incomparable, which is the lord of holy places, which shines with the presence of several (rivers), which itself is an excellent deity. Have we practised good penance, have we performed sacrifices, have we given various kinds of gifts to worthy recipients, have we worshipped gods, have we resorted to a good holy place, have we honoured a group of good brāhmaṇas, due to which we have reached that capital of Śiva which gives happiness?

38-41. Due to my good fortune of many existences I have had (i.e. reached) the city of Śiva, which destroys all sins, which is full of all wonders, and which is a boat to cross the ocean of the mundane existence. I have received the fruit of a good birth. (My) family is made pure. My soul is purified. (Thus) everything for me has been done. What else is there that stands above all? Since what is said, viz. ‘A living man sees a lakh of good things’ is not false, I have physically reached Kāśī with my transitory sight. The counting and worship of the sacred places and phalluses of the lord (found) in Kaśī, the divine land, cannot be done even by gods. With my hands joined, I salute the ancient pious (places), which are secret or open here (i.e. in Kāśī). O men, what is the use of the fear from the multitude of sins, what is the use of the joy due to innumerable meritorious deeds done (by you), what is the use of the pride due to the study of the lores, what is the use of dejection due to the fault of dullness, what is the use of the pride due to prosperity, what is the use of being tormented due to poverty, if the lord of the universe is seen after bathing in the water of Śrī Maṇikarṇikā?

42-49. Since that city of Gadādhara, which though it has little (worldly) affluence, (though) it is small, is not reached even by desires, is not the object of even a dream, but which is reached by means of the power rich with enthusiasm, which is accompanied by the attachment of the mind and the practicability of which is possibly manifest, instantly gives salvation. I think that it is not my act, it is not the strength of the acquisition of an ancestor, it is not the unmoving authority of my kinsmen; how then can it be numbness or torment (which hasbroughtme here)? Reaching Gaṅgā, Prayāga, Yamunā, Kāśī difficult to reach, on the coming of a good occasion—for that the favour of Śāradā, giving a great fruit, is triumphant. I salute that Gadādhara who is actually present in Gayā, and who even though remembered from a distance at the time of a śrāddha, gives salvation to the manes. A man with a potsherd and pitiable words, after having come from a remote place and after having trodden the path that is difficult to cross, and that is crowded with hostile (factors like) mean tigers, hyenas, thorns and snakes, should first solicit the immutable one; (for) O you rich Gadādhara living in water, he longs to see you every day. How do you, pleasing the deities and the universe by showing yourself as a result of the śrāddha at Gayā, resort, like an indifferent (person) to this apathy? O Gadādhara, I have performed the śrāddha through your favour. O god, (now) allow me to go home. The eulogy of the four deities gives the wealth of heaven. A man should recite it at the time of śrāddha. A man should recite it at the time of bathing every day. Due to the listening to it, reciting it and muttering it the bath is equal to the bath at all holy places. O brāhmaṇa, the sins due to (one’s) deeds perish by listening to the praise of Prayāga, Gaṅgā and Yamunā.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Śyāma: Name of a sacred fig-tree at Allahabad on the bank of Yamunā.

[2]:

Triveṇī: The place near Prayāga where Gaṅgā joins Yamunā and receives underground Sarasvatī.