Devibhagavatapurana 11.24.78

11.24.78

etenaiva jitā lokāstapasā nāradādibhiḥ |
śākamanye pare mūlaṃ phalamanye payaḥ pare ||

O Nârada! By these practices of Tapasyâs you and other Risis have been able to conquer the three Lokas (regions). Some ate only vegetables; some fruits; some, roots; some simply water; some, ghee; some, Somarasa; whereas some others ate only charu and did tapasyâ. Some Risis practised this great Tapasyâ by eating very little for a fortnight only. Some ate food, only what they got by begging during the day; and some ate only Havisyânna. O Nârada! Now hear the rules for the purification and expiation of sins. For the expiation of the sin incurred in stealing gold, one is to repeat three thousand Gâyatrîs (daily) for one month; then the sin will be destroyed. By this act also the sins incurred by drinking or by going to one’s Guru’s wife are destroyed. Vis’vâmitra Risi says:-- The sin incurred by killing a Brâhmana (Brahmahatyâ) is destroyed if one erects a shed in a forest and, living there, repeats three thousand Gâyatrîs daily for one month. Those Brâhmanas that have committed the Great Sins (i.e., Mahâpâtakas), become free, if they repeat one thousand Gâyatrîs daily, submerged under water, for twelve successive days. By controlling speech and by practising Prânâyâma, if one repeats three thousand Gâyatrîs daily for one month, one will be free from the Mahâpâtakas. If one practises one thousand Prânâyâmas repeating the Gâyatrî, one becomes freed also of Brahmahatyâ. If one draws upwards the Prâna and Apâna Vâyus six times, repeating the Gâyatrî with collected mind, this destroys all the sins and it is called all-sin destroying Prânâyâma. If one practises this Prânâyâma one thousand times for one month, the lord of the earth becomes freed of all sins. If any Brâhmana incurs the sin of killing a cow, for twelve days he is to repeat three thousand Gâyatrîs daily for expiation. Similarly the repetition of ten thousand Gâyatrîs removes the sin of going to those not fit to be gone into, eating the uneatables, stealing and killing and this act brings in peace. All sins are destroyed by performing one hundred Prânâyâmas with Gâyatrî. Again if there be a mixture of various sins, one will have to live in the forest for one month and repeat one thousand Gâyatrîs or practise fasting and repeat three thousand Gâyatrîs; thus all sins will be destroyed.