Chapter 60 - The impact of Jambū Tīrtha

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Pulastya said:

1. Then the best of kings follow up your journey with a visit to the centre of pilgrimage called Jambū. A bath there enables a man to give effect to the earnest desires of mind. The upliftment accruable through Jambū Tīrtha is equivalent to all pilgrim centres, the virtuous king.

2. There was a Kṣatriya by name Nimi hailing from the Surya [Sūrya?] dynasty in olden times. Under the aftermath of age (i.e., at old age) he proceeded to the Arbuda mountain.

3. Making a seat for himself there he stayed put there with all sincerity. (In course of time) like the flow of wind, thousands of sages came near him.

4. They used to diṣcuss recurrently the good religious discourses of the royal sages amongst themselves. The discourses also included those of the godly sages, from the Purānas as well as those stated by other great minds.

5. At some juncture during the course of summing up discussions, a sage named Lomaśa present amidst them began to present the account of glorified greatness rising out of all centres of pilgrimage.

6. The earthly being! hearing that, the king Nimi became mentally very upset, as he, on his part, had never taken a dip before in the pools of water at centres of pilgrimage.

7. Then he asked the best of Brāhmaṇas to suggest him a way out with regard to any particular centre of pilgrimage which would yield him the results equivalent to all centres of pilgrimage.

8-10. Lomaśa said, “A sense of mercy for you has got onto me, for as I look at you the king, I understand you to be excessively sad. I shall do all that dear to you to help you on pilgrimage. Through the power of invocation, I can bring forth all places of pilgrimage here on this island of Jambu [Jambū/Jambūdvīpa?] without any doubt. O king! have a bath here in this conjunction of all centres of pilgrimage. It is a fact that a bath in the pool of water here in this island beckons welfare.”

11. Having said so the Brāhmaṇa Sage got engrossed in the cycle of meditation. Then all the centres of pilgrimage instantly became evident there.

12. The manifest Jambu [Jambū/Jambūvṛkṣa?] tree there strengthened the faith of the king in the Royal Sage’s efforts. Then becoming convinced that the place has a confluence of all centres of pilgrimage, the king took bath there.

13. After completing the religious ritual of having a bath there, the king then could be able to proceed to Heaven along with his body in fact. Since then this place of pilgrimage has been remembered as the Jambu Tīrtha [Jambū/Jambūtīrtha?].

14. The fruits of the Śrāddha, i.e., ceremony conducted in connection with remembrance of one’s forefathers by a man here on that particular day of Sun transiting in the Zodiac sign of Virgo has been described to be of same importance as that of fruits accruing to the same ceremony at Gayā by the Great Sages.