Chapter 34 - Description of Ravi Tīrtha

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

1-9. There itself is another Tīrtha of the noble-souled Āditya (Sun-god). I shall glorify it, O excellent one among men, if you are interested in listening.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

On hearing this incomparable mystery coming out of your mouth, I am struck with wonder and I experience horripilation, O excellent sage.

The Thousand-rayed Lord is the annihilator, creator and free from any contamination. He caused the uplift of the worlds through his incarnation on the bank of Narmadā. Is the Lord in the form of a man? Or does he redeem as a result of penance? In whose family did he take his birth? Under whose control did he come to be?

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

A devout, pure Brāhmaṇa born in the family of Kulika made preparation for pilgrimage to that Tīrtha thinking, ‘I shall visit the Sun-god’.

He made the journey of more than a hundred Yojanas without taking food and without drinking water. He was verily prevented from the journey in a dream: “O sage of great Sattva quality, enough of your Vrata of this sort. Look at me, I have pervaded everything, the mobile and immobile beings. I blaze. I withhold rain and I then release it too. He who sees me not dead but as Mṛtyu (cause of death) sees reality. Choose any fair boon whatever has been desired by you.”

The Brāhmaṇa said:

10-17. If you are pleased, O Lord, if the boon is to be given to me, be present for ever on the northern bank of Narmadā. O Lord, be the bestower of boons to those persons who are self-controlled and remember you with great devotion, though staying a hundred Yojanas away.

Be the bestower of boons to those who are hunchbacked, blind, deaf and dumb, or those who have some defect in some limb or sense-organ and bow unto your feet. Without delay, O Lord, show mercy to those whose noses are shattered, whose intellects are retarded and of whom there remain only bones and skin.

Be the bestower of boons, O Lord of the universe, to those who worship you everyday after taking the holy bath in Narmadā water.

O unswerving Lord, grant the desired boons to those who eulogize you in the morning through Vedic and secular prayers. O Lord, this is my final boon that boons should be granted to those men on the earth who get their haircut or shaving when you are in full view.

Out of pity the Lord thereupon told the sage, “Let it be so”. O great king, he stationed himself there with a hundredth part and then vanished.

18-24. A man should go to that Tīrtha with great devotion and perform the holy ablution. He should propitiate the Pitṛs and Devas. He shall thereby derive the benefit of Agniṣṭoma.

He who immolates himself by entering fire at that Tīrtha, O king, goes to Agniloka brightening all the quarters.

He who gives up his body after reaching that Tīrtha, shall go to the world of Varuṇa. So said Śaṅkara.

He who abandons worldly life by adopting Sannyāsa at that Tīrtha and quits life, is honoured in the heavenly world where groups of Apsarās are (in attendance) and divine (musical) sounds reverberate. After staying there he returns to the mortal world and becomes well-conversant with the Vedas and Vedāṅgas. He shall be rid of ailments and grief and shall be the Lord of crores and crores. Accompanied by sons and wife he shall live a hundred years.

He who gets up early in the morning and remembers the Sun-god there becomes undoubtedly rid of the sins committed throughout the life.