History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.206

v7.c91.206

In their zeal for the spread of the cult of bhakti the Purāṇas are sometimes guilty of gross exaggeration. The Brahma-purāṇa¹⁵⁸⁷ says 'men even after having committed many sins under the influence of error (or delusion), do not go to Hell, if they worship Hari who removes all sins; those men also who always remember Janārdana, though they may be guilty of roguery, reach, after they die, the happy world of Viṣṇu. Even a man who is habituated to flying into extreme rage, if he recites the name of Hari, has his faults destroyed and attains *mukti* (liberation) as the king of Cedi country did'. The Vāmana-purāṇa¹⁵⁸⁸ observes "what has that person got to do with many *mantras* (i. e. he has no use for those), who is a bhakta of Viṣṇu? The mantra 'namo Nārāyaṇāya' is able to accomplish all objects. Success is for those who have bhakti for Viṣṇu; how can there be failure for them in whose heart is enthroned Janārdana dark like a blue lotus?" The Vāmana and Padma Purāṇas say that a man secures the same results by repeating the names of Viṣṇu that he would secure by visiting all the tīrthas (sacred places) and holy shrines¹⁵⁸⁹ in the world.