The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 3.83.81
Mahābhārata 3.83.81
- Language
- Sanskrit
3.83.81
tatra bhogavatī nāma vāsukestīrthamuttamam |
tatrābhiṣekaṃ yaḥ kuryātso'śvamedhamavāpnuyāt || 81 ||
The learned, however, say that of all these tirthas, O exalted one, Prayaga is the most sacred, in fact, the foremost of all tirthas in the three worlds. By going to that tirtha, by singing its praises, or by taking a little earth from it, one is cleansed from every sin. He that bathes in that confluence celebrated over the world, acquires all the merits of the Rajasuya and the horse-sacrifices. This sacrificial place is worshipped by the gods themselves. If a man giveth there ever so little, it increaseth, O Bharata, a thousandfold. O child, let not the texts of the Veda, nor the opinions of men dissuade thy mind from the desire of dying at Prayaga. O son of the Kuru race, the wise say that six hundred million and ten thousand tirthas exist at Prayaga. Bathing in the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, one obtains the merit that attaches to the four kinds of knowledge and the merits also of those that are truthful. There at Prayaga is the excellent tirtha of Vasuki called Bhogavati. He that batheth in it, obtaineth the merit of the horse-sacrifice. There also in the Ganga is the tirtha famed over the three worlds, called Ramaprapatana, which conferreth the merit of ten horse-sacrifices. O son of the Kuru race! Wherever may a person bathe in the Ganga, he earneth merit equal to that of a trip to Kurukshetra. An exception, however, is made in favour of Kanakhala, while the merit attaching to Prayaga is the greatest.
Translations (1)
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, English
Other recensions (2)
- Southern recension — Sanskrit
- Vulgate (Nīlakaṇṭha's text) — Sanskrit