Skandapurana 4.6

Pārāśarya said:

"Listen, O highly fortunate Sūta, to the narrative that is the twin sister of the Veda,

keeping which in his heart, a person partakes of the goals of human life in this world.

Then the sage, having plunged into the river of the stream of nectar that was the joy of the darśana of Śrī

together with his wife, attained supreme delight.

O Sūta, born from the sacrificial fire-pit, whose mind is immaculate,

listen to one well-spoken saying uttered by the wise of old:

'For those good people in whose hearts assisting others remains awake,

misfortunes perish, and prosperities arise at every step.'

That purification is not obtained by ritual ablutions at sacred fords, nor that fruit by generous gifts,

nor can it be attained by severe austerities, which is obtained by helping others.

The dharma that comes from helping others and the dharma arising from gifts and the like—

when both were weighed together on a balance by the Creator, the former proved heavier.

Having thoroughly churned the whole web of words, precisely this has been determined:

there is no dharma higher than helping others, and no sin worse than harming others.

This is illustrated by Agastya, who was a benefactor:

where was such grief born of Kāśī, and where was the sight of Śrī's face?"

Life and wealth of various kinds are unsteady like the tip of an elephant's ear.

Therefore, doing good to others is the sole duty of a wise man.

Since a man can scarcely contain himself anywhere merely by obtaining the name of fortune,

beholding Fortune herself before his eyes, the sage attained the fulfillment of his goal.

Then, as he was walking along at his pleasure, he saw Śrīśaila from afar,

where the glorious god, the destroyer of Tripura, resides in person.

Then the sage, with a delighted mind, addressed these words to his wife:

"Remaining right here, beloved, behold what is supreme and most lovely,

this glorious peak of Śrīśaila, from the sight of which

rebirth for human beings in this world never occurs again.

Indeed, this mountain is eighty-four yojanas in extent;

since it is composed entirely of liṅgas, one should circumambulate it."

Lopāmudrā said:

"I wish to submit a humble question, if my lord permits.

For a woman who speaks [without] being permitted by her husband becomes fallen."

Agastya said:

"What do you wish to say, O lady? Speak the truth without hesitation.

For words spoken by women like you never lead to distress for a husband."

Then, bowing humbly to the sage, the noble lady asked,

for the welfare of all and to dispel her own doubt:

Lopāmudrā said:

"If by seeing the peak of Śrīśaila rebirth is no more,

and if this is truly so, for what purpose is Kāśī sought?"

Agasti said:

"Listen, O beautiful woman; what you have asked is true, O faultless one.

This has been repeatedly determined by sages contemplating reality.

There are many places of liberation, and there too a conclusion has been reached.

I shall tell them to you now; focus your mind for a moment.

First is the king of sacred fords, renowned as Prayāga,

fulfilling wishes among all sacred fords, granting dharma, pleasure, wealth, and liberation;

Naimiṣa, Kurukṣetra, Gaṅgādvāra, Avantikā,

Ayodhyā, Mathurā, and Dvārakā, as well as Amarāvatī;

Sarasvatī, the confluence with the sea, the confluence of Gaṅgā and the ocean,

Kāñcī, Tryambaka, and the banks of the Saptagodāvarī;

Kālañjara, Prabhāsa, and likewise Badarikāśrama;

Mahālaya, likewise Oṃkāra, and the sacred field of Puruṣottama;

Gokarṇa, Bhṛgukaccha, Bhṛgutuṅga, and Puṣkara;

sacred fords such as Śrīparvata, and likewise Dhārātīrtha;

and also the mental sacred fords, truth and the rest, O beloved.

These indeed bestow liberation; no doubt should be entertained here.

And the sacred ford of Gayā, which is declared to bestow liberation on ancestors,

their sons also become freed from their debt to their forebears."

His lawful wife said:

"The mental sacred fords that have been mentioned, O noble-minded one,

which ones are they in this world? You ought to explain this."

Agastya said:

"Listen, O sinless one, as I declare the mental sacred fords,

bathing properly in which a person attains the supreme goal.

Truth is a sacred ford, patience is a sacred ford, restraint of the senses is a sacred ford,

compassion for all beings is a sacred ford, and uprightness is a sacred ford.

Generosity is a sacred ford, self-control is a sacred ford, contentment is said to be a sacred ford,

celibacy is a supreme sacred ford, and gentle speech is a sacred ford.

Knowledge is a sacred ford, steadfastness is a sacred ford, and austerity is proclaimed a sacred ford;

the highest sacred ford among sacred fords is the supreme purity of the mind.

Having the body washed with water is not called a ritual ablution.

He is truly bathed who is bathed in self-control, pure, and cleansed of the impurities of the mind.

One who is greedy, slanderous, cruel, deceitful, and attached to sensual pleasures,

even if he bathes in all sacred fords, remains sinful and dirty.

A person does not become pure merely by discarding bodily dirt;

but when mental dirt is cast away, one becomes exceedingly pure within."

Water-dwelling creatures are born and die in water alone;

yet they do not go to heaven, with the impurities of their minds unpurified.

Excessive attachment to sense objects is said to be mental impurity;

indeed, detachment toward those very objects is proclaimed as one's purity.

A wicked mind within is not purified by bathing at a sacred ford,

just as an impure liquor pot is not cleansed though washed a hundred times with water.

Giving, sacrificial worship, austerity, cleanliness, resort to sacred fords, and learning—

all these are not sacred fords if one's inner disposition is not pure.

Wherever a man dwells with his host of senses restrained,

there for him are Kurukṣetra, Naimiṣa, and the Puṣkaras.

In the water of knowledge purified by knowledge, which removes the impurity of passion and hatred,

he who bathes in that sacred ford of the mind attains the supreme state.

This, O goddess, has been declared to you as the character of the mental sacred ford.

Hear also the cause of the sanctity of earthly sacred fords.

Just as certain parts of the body are traditionally regarded as most pure,

so on the earth certain localities are traditionally regarded as most holy.

Through the wondrous power of the earth, the water, and radiant energy,

and through the possession by sages, the sanctity of sacred fords is remembered.

Therefore, in both earthly and mental sacred fords constantly—

he who bathes in both of them goes to the supreme state.

Without fasting for three nights and without visiting sacred fords,

and without giving gold and cattle, one is indeed born poor.

Having sacrificed with rituals such as the Agniṣṭoma accompanied by generous priestly fees,

one does not obtain that fruit which [is gained] by visiting sacred fords.

He whose hands, feet, and mind are well controlled,

and [who possesses] knowledge, austerity, and renown, enjoys the fruit of a sacred ford.

He who has turned away from accepting gifts, is content with whatever comes,

and is free from egoism, enjoys the fruit of a sacred ford.

He who is without deceit, free from worldly enterprise, eats little, has conquered his senses,

and is freed from all attachments, enjoys the fruit of a sacred ford.

Free from anger, pure in intellect, speaking the truth, firm in his vows,

and looking upon [all] beings as himself, he enjoys the fruit of a sacred ford.

Visiting sacred fords, wise, full of faith, and concentrated in mind,

one who has committed sins would be purified—how much more one who performs pure deeds!

He will not go to animal birth; he is never born in an unholy land;

he will not be miserable, he shares in heaven, and he finds the means to liberation.

One lacking faith, sinful in nature, an unbeliever, one whose doubts are unsevered,

and one devoted [solely] to rationalism—these five do not share in the fruit of a sacred ford.

Those who traverse the sacred fords according to the prescribed rule,

enduring all dualities, steadfast—those men share in heaven.

Desiring to make a pilgrimage to sacred fords, having first observed a fast at home,

and having worshipped Gaṇeśa, the ancestors, brahmins, and holy men according to one's capacity,

having broken the fast, joyful, holding to his vows, he should set out again.

Returning and worshipping the ancestors, he will receive the stated reward.

A twice-born seeking food at sacred fords is not to be examined, but simply fed;

and offering of funeral cakes [made] of roasted barley flour, sacrificial cooked porridge, or milk rice

should be made, as seen by the seers, or with oil-cake and molasses.

A śrāddha should be performed there without the water offering and invocation.

Whether at an improper time or at a proper time, at a sacred ford a śrāddha and libation

must be performed without delay; one should not cause any obstacle.

Having reached a sacred ford incidentally, one should perform a ritual ablution at the sacred ford;

he obtains the fruit born of the ritual ablution associated with the pilgrimage to a sacred ford.

For men who have committed sins, pacification of sin occurs at a sacred ford;

the sacred ford bestows the stated reward upon men who have faithful souls.

He who goes for another's sake obtains a sixteenth part;

half of the fruit of the sacred ford belongs to him who goes incidentally.

Having made an effigy of kuśa grass, one should plunge it into the water of the sacred ford; / and he for whose sake one plunges it shall indeed obtain an eighth part.

Fasting at a sacred ford should be observed, as well as the shaving of the head, / because sins situated in the head depart through shaving.

On the day before the day on which the sacred ford is reached,

a fast must be observed; on the day of arrival, one should offer a śrāddha.

In connection with the sacred ford, the subsidiary rites of the sacred ford have also been told by me before you.

This is indeed an instrument for heaven, and truly a means to liberation.

Kāśī, Kāñcī, and Māyā, Ayodhyā and Dvāravatī as well,

Mathurā, and Avantikā: these seven cities here bestow liberation.

All of Śrīśaila bestows liberation, and Kedāra even more than that;

and higher than both Śrīśaila and Kedāra, Prayāga bestows liberation.

Avimukta is distinguished even above Prayāga, the foremost of sacred fords;

as in Avimukta, so nowhere else is there nirvāṇa, without doubt.

The other sacred fields of liberation bring about the attainment of Kāśī;

a man of disciplined mind, meditating on Kāśī after hearing this,

and having recited it to brahmins endowed with faith and devotion,

to kṣatriyas intent on righteousness, to vaiśyas walking in the good path,

and to śūdras devoted to brahmins, that twice-born becomes free from sin.

Thus ends the sixth chapter, named 'The Chapter on Sacred Fords', in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa of the fourth [book] in the glorious Skandapurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.