History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.43.3

v5.c74.43.3

145) in its eulogy of Pṛthūdaka asserts that Kurukṣetra is holy, that Sarasvatī is holier than Kurukṣetra and that Pṛthūdaka is holier than all other tīrthas The Matsyapurāṇa puts the ¹²⁷¹ comparative holiness of several tīrthas thus 'the waters of the Sarasvatī purify after (one bathes for) three days, those of Yamunā in seven days, those of the Ganges at once, while the water of the Narmadā purifies a man at sight of it.' In its eulogy of Vārāṇasī the Kūrma-purāṇa states 'there is no place higher than Vārāṇasī nor will there be one' (I. 31 64). The inveterate habit of exaggeration goes so far that it is said that by merely residing in Kāśī till one's death not only does a man become free from the great sin of brāhmaṇa murder but from the never-ending cycle of births and deaths and is not born again.¹²⁷² The Liṅgapurāṇa says the same thing. The Vāmanapurāṇa remarks ¹²⁷³ that *mukti* (release from *saṃsāra*) can be secured in four ways, viz. by knowledge of Brahman, by śrāddha at Gayā, by loss of life in repelling the carrying away of cows and by residence in Kurukṣetra and that those who die in Kurukṣetra never come down (to the earth) Mere residence in Kāśī was so much lauded that the Matsya (181 23), the Agni (112. 3) and other Purāṇas say that after repairing to Kāśī one should smash one's feet with a stone (in order that one may not be induced to visit another tīrtha)¹²⁷⁴ and stay in Kāśī forever.