History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.64

v5.c74.64

In order to guard against the facile assumption that without a change of heart or change in one's sinful mode of life a mere physical act of pilgrimage and bath in holy waters would be enough, some of the texts in the Mahābhārata and Purāṇas adopted two propositions: viz the one noted above that it is the pure mind that is a real tīrtha and further emphasized that it is better to stay at home and perform all the duties of a householder including the performance of vedic sacrifices than to go on a pilgrimage. The Śāntiparva ¹²⁸⁵ in the dialogue between Tulādhāra and Jājali (a brāhmaṇa proud of his *tapas*) asserts that puroḍāśa is the holiest of offerings, that all rivers are (holy like) Sarasvatī and all hillocks (and not merely Himālaya and the like) are holy, that one's soul is a tīrtha and advises Jājali not to be a guest (i. e. to be wandering in quest of tīrthas) to several countries. The Tīrthacintāmaṇi and Tīrthaprakāśa quote passages from the Brahmapurāṇa that a brāhmaṇa should wander about tīrthas after his capacity to perform sacrifices has come to an end, that it is better for a man to stay at home and perform the duties of an householder when he has the capacity and authority to perform *iṣṭis* and *yajñas*, and that all the tīrthas do not come up (in their rewards) to the performance of *agnihotra*.¹²⁸⁶ The Kūrmapurāṇa ¹²⁸⁷ has the following remarkable verses on this point. 'That person who abandoning his proper duties¹²⁸⁷ resorts to tīrthas does not reap the fruits of pilgrimage in this world as well as in the next. A person who has to undergo an expiation (for a sin), or who is a widower or who is a householder of the yāyāvara¹²⁸⁸ type or similar persons may resort to pilgrimages. One may go to holy places with his vedic fires or with his wife; he becomes free from all sins and secures the best goal as stated above. One who wants to go on pilgrimages should pay off the three debts, should provide means of maintenance for his sons and should consign his wife to their care.'