History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.34
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.34
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In the Sūtras and ancient smṛtis like those of Manu and Yājñavalkya tīrthas do not occupy a very prominent position. But in the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas they are highly lauded and placed even above sacrifices. In the Vanaparva¹²⁶³ a comparison is made between sacrifices to gods and pilgrimages. Sacrifices require numerous implements, collection of materials, the co-operation of priests and the presence of a wife and so they can be performed only by princes or rich men. They cannot be performed by poor men, who are devoid of wealth, who are without a wife and without friends, who are helpless. The reward that a man gets by visiting holy places cannot be secured by performing such sacrifices as Agniṣṭoma in which large fees are paid (to priests); therefore visiting holy places is superior to sacrifices. But the Mahābhārata (Vanaparva 82. 9-12 and Anuśāsana 108. 3-4) lays the greatest emphasis on the cultivation of high moral and spiritual qualities if the full reward of pilgrimages is to be reaped. It says¹²⁶⁴ 'He whose hands, feet and mind are well controlled and who possesses knowledge, austerities and a good reputation derives the (full) reward of pilgrimages. He who turns his face away from receiving gifts and is content with what little he gets and is free from vanity obtains the rewards of pilgrimages.
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He, who is free from hypocrisy (or deceit), is not engaged in various undertakings (for earning money), is not a heavy eater, has subdued his senses and is (therefore) free from all sins; so also he who does not fly into a rage, who always speaks the truth, who is firm in his observances, and acts towards all beings by treating them like himself, obtains the full reward of pilgrimages'. The idea seems to be that pilgrimages may help to remove the sins of men who are not possessed of the above characteristics, while those who possess these acquire a great store of merit in addition. The Skanda (Kāśīkhaṇḍa 6.3) asserts 'snāna cannot be predicated of a man whose body alone is flooded with water; that man who is plunged in restraint of senses, who is pure, relieved of all taint and is stainless, is alone to be called snāta' (as having had a bath). The Anuśāsana has almost the same words (108.9). The Vāyupurāṇa states¹²⁶⁵ 'A steadfast (or wise) man visiting tīrthas with faith and controlling his senses would be purified even if he has been guilty of sins; what need is there to say about him whose actions have been pure? One who has no faith, who is full of sins, whose mind is not free from doubts (about the rewards of pilgrimages and the rites there), who is an atheist and who is bent on bad reasoning—these five do not reap the rewards of pilgrimages'. The Skandapurāṇa (I. 1. 31.
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37) remarks that all holy places, sacrifices and various gifts are meant for cleansing the mind (of its sins and sinful proclivities, manaḥ-śuddhi). The Padmapurāṇa (IV. 80. 9) remarks· sacrifices, *vratas*, *tapas* and *dāna* cannot be carried out fully in the Kali age; but bathing in the Ganges and taking the name of Hari are free from all defects. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa¹²⁶⁶ puts the matter very clearly when it says 'When resort is made to a tīrtha, it removes the sins of the sinful and tends to the increase of merit in the case of the good and that a holy place yields fruit to men of all varṇas and āśramas.' Some of the Purāṇas (such as Skandapurāṇa, Kāśīkhaṇḍa 6, Padma, Uttarakhaṇḍa, 237) say that in addition to the holy places on land (*bhauma*) there are certain virtues that may be called mental tīrthas (in a figurative sense). According to them 'truthfulness, forbearance, restraint of the senses, compassion for all beings, straight-forwardness, charity, self-control, contentment, celibacy (brahmacarya), sweet speech, knowledge, patience, austerity, are tīrthas and the highest tīrtha is purity of mind.' They further state that a man who is avaricious, wicked, cruel, hypocritical and immersed in pleasures of senses is still sinful and impure even if he bathes in all *tīrthas* and that fish are born and die in holy waters but they do not go to heaven because their minds are not purified and that even charity, sacrifices, austerity,