History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t6.15

v5.c74.t6.15

A bath in the Godāvarī when Jupiter enters the sign of Leo has been regarded even up to the present day as very meritorious.¹⁶²¹ The Brahmapurāṇa says that three crores and a half of tīrthas that exist in the three worlds come for a bath in the Gaṅgā when Jupiter is in Leo and that bathing in the Bhāgīrathī (every day) for sixty thousand years (is equal) to bathing only once in the Godāvarī when Jupiter is in the Zodical sign Leo.¹⁶²² It is stated in the Varāhapurāṇa that when a man repairs to the sacred Godāvarī in *siṃhastha* year, takes a bath and offers *tarpaṇa* (and śrāddha) to his pitṛs the latter go to heaven if they are in hell and they attain final release if they are already denizens of heaven. Jupiter is in Leo for one year once in twelve years. Crowds of pilgrims throng at Nasik in their thousands from all parts of India in the *siṃhastha* year.