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तीर्थयात्रापर्वन् (tIrthayAtrAparvan)

 
Monier Williams Cologne
English
तीर्थ—यात्रा—पर्वन्
n.
N.
 of
MBh.
 iii, chs. 80-156
Mahabharata
English
[Tīrthayātrāparvan(ºva)]
(“the episode relating to the pilgrimage to the tīrthas”, the 36th of the minor parvans of Mhbhr. Cf. Tīrthayātrā). § 356: Draupadī, Bhīmasena, Nakula, and Sahadeva lamented Arjuna
Sahadeva suggested to move from the Kāmyaka wood (III, 80). Then came the devarshi Nārada who, at the request of Yudhishṭhira, told them what the brahmarshi Pulastya had formerly said to Bhīshma about the merits of circumambulating (pradakshiṇāṃ yaḥ kurute) the earth for the purpose of visiting the tīrthas, when Bhīshma was engaged in a pitrya vrata at Gaṅgādvāra (resorted to by devarshis, Gandharvas, and gods) in the company of munis, and made oblations to the pitṛs, gods, and ṛshis (III, 81). At Bhīshma's request Pulastya explained the qualities of a person who will acquire merit by visiting tīrthas
he said that the costly sacrifices, which only kings and very rich men are capable of affording, are not of greater merit than a sojourn in tīrthas, which even the poorest may accomplish.--§ 357: Then he first described Pushkara (q.v.).-§ 358: Then he enumerated a great many of tīrthas and the merit of visiting them.--§ 359: Vaḍavā (q.v.).--§ 360: Pulastya's enumeration of tīrthas continued (III, 82).-§ 361: Kurukshetra (q.v.).--§ 362: The enumeration continued.--§ 363: Rāmahradāḥ (q.v.).--§ 364: The enumeration continued.--§ 365: Maṅkaṇaka (q.v.).--§ 366: The enumeration continued.--§ 367: Prthūdaka (q.v.).--§ 368: The enumeration continued.--§ 369: Kurukshetra (q.v.).-§ 370: The enumeration continued (III, 84).--§ 371: Tuṅgaka (q.v.).--§ 372: The enumeration continued.-§ 373: Prayāga (q.v.).--§ 374: The enumeration continued. --§ 375: Gaṅgā is equal to Kurukshetra, wherever one may bathe in it, especially in Kanakhala and in Prayāga, which is the most excellent
a bath in the Gaṅgā in that place removes 100 sins. In the Kṛtayuga all the tīrthas were sacred, in the Tretāyuga Pushkara alone, in the Dvāpara Kurukshetra, in the Kaliyuga Gaṅgā. In Pushkara one should practise austerities, in Mahālaya one should make gifts, on the Malaya one should ascend the funeral pyre, in Bhṛgutuṅga one should kill oneself by fasting
bathing in Pushkara, Kurukshetra, the Gaṅgā, and Magadha (PCR. seems to have had another reading) one purifies seven generations of one's race upwards and downwards, etc.
as long as one's bones lie in contact with the water of the Gaṅgā, so long does one live, honoured in heaven (Svargaloke). Pitāmaha has said that no tīrtha is equal to the Gaṅgā, no God to Keśava, and none is superior to brahmans. This truthful description one should recite only to the twice-born, etc. (*). In these tīrthas have bathed the Vasus, the Sādhyas (so B.), the Ādityas, the Maruts, the Aśvins, and the Ṛshis, who are equal to the gods. Only men of piety and learning are able to visit these tīrthas on account of their purified senses, their belief in god (āstikyāt), and their acquaintance with the Vedas (end of Pulastya's discourse, in which Yudhishṭhira sometimes is addressed instead of Bhīshma).--§ 376: Nārada continued: Then Pulastya disappeared, and Bhīshma (who understood the śāstras), at the command of Pulastya, wandered over the earth and ended his tīrthayātrā at Prayāga. The man that so walks about the earth is rewarded after death as much as for 100 horse sacrifices. “So wilt thou Yudhishṭhira obtain the eight-fold (ashṭaguṇaṃ) dharma, as Bhīshma did before, and because thou wilt lead the ṛshis, thy merit will be eight-fold
those tīrthas are infested by Rākshasas, and no king, save thyself, has gone there (*). The foremost of ṛshis are always there and expect thee: Vālmīki, Kaśyapa, Ātreya, Kuṇḍajaṭhara, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Asita Devala, Mārkaṇḍeya, Gālava, Bharadvāja, Vasishṭha, Uddālaka, Śaunaka with his son, Vyāsa, Durvāsas, and Jābāli. With them do thou visit these tīrthas. The great ṛshi Lomaśa will come to thee, do thou follow him and me to these tīrthas.” Then Nārada disappeared and Yudhishṭhira spoke to the ascetics of the tīrthas (III, 85).--§ 377: Dhaumya-tīrthakathana (q.v.).--§ 378: While Dhaumya was speaking thus, Lomaśa arrived and told that Arjuna had obtained Brahmaśiras-(b), learnt the Gāndharva Veda, etc. (III, 91). Lomaśa said that Arjuna had asked him to cause Yudhishṭhira to visit all tīrthas, like Manu and other rājarshis, and protect him from the Rākshasas as Dadhīca had protected Indra and Aṅgiras had protected the Sun. Lomaśa had twice before visited the tīrthas. At the command of Lomaśa, Yudhishṭhira caused the citizens, brahmans, and Yatis, who were not able to endure the privations of the journey, to return to Hāstinapura, where Dhṛtarāshṭra gave them their proper allowances from affection for Yudhishṭhira, and Yudhishṭhira, with only a small number of brahmans abode for three nights at Kāmyaka cheered by Lomaśa (III, 92). The brahmans, who dwelt in the wood, prevailed upon Yudhishṭhira that he allowed them to partake of the tīrthayātrā. Just when they were about to start, Vyāsa, Parvata, and Nārada came to Kāmyaka, and caused them not only to fulfil human vows by purifying the body, but even divine vows by purifying the heart, that it might be free from evil thoughts and harbour only friendly feelings towards everybody. When those celestial and human ṛshis had performed the usual propitiatory ceremonies, and when they had worshipped the feet of Lomaśa, Dvaipāyana, Nārada, and the devarshi Parvata, the Pāṇḍavas and Kṛshṇā started towards the east with Dhaumya and the ascetics on the day following Mārgaśīrshī, when Pushya was in ascendance, dressed in bark and hides, with matted locks, cased in mail, and armed with swords, etc., with Indrasena and other attendants with some fourteen (paricaturdaśaiḥ) chariots and a number of cooks (III, 93). As Yudhishṭhira asked why he who is virtuous is unhappy, and his enemies who are sinful, happy, Lomaśa said that sinful men often prosper in consequence of their sins, but at last they are overtaken by destruction, even as in the devayuga the Daiteyas and Dānavas (Asuras), who practised vice (adharma) and did not visit the tīrthas, for a time prospered by their sin and vanquished the gods, who practised virtue and visited the tīrthas
at last, when the good qualities, prosperity, etc., left the Asuras and went to the gods, while bad qualities, adversity, etc., came to the Asuras, and Kali possessed them, they were overtaken by destruction. Nṛga, Śibi Auśīnara, Bhagīratha, Vasumanas, Gaya, Pūru, and Purūravas had by practising ascetic penances and visiting tīrthas, etc., obtained fame and wealth, etc., and so would Yudhishṭhira, and as Ikshvāku with his sons, etc., and Mucukunda, Māndhātṛ, and Marutta, and the gods and devarshis obtained fame by the power of asceticism, so would Yudhishṭhira, while the Dhārtarāshṭras, enslaved by sinfulness and ignorance, soon would be exterminated (III, 94).--§ 379: The Pāṇḍavas with their followers, proceeding from place to place, at last arrived at Naimisha, and thence to the Gomatī, etc. (enumeration of tīrthas visited).--§ 380: Brahmasaras (q.v.).-§ 381: Gaya (q.v.).--§ 382: Thence they came to the hermitage of Agastya, and dwelt in Durjayā (i.e. Maṇimatī, the city of Vātāpi, Nīl.)
there asked by Yudhishṭhira Lomaśa told: Agastyopākhyāna (q.v.).--§ 383: Description of the Gaṅgā (b). Then, having at the suggestion of Lomaśa, with his brothers and Kṛshṇā, bathed in Bhṛgos tīrthaṃ (c) and gratified the gods and Pitṛs, Yudhishṭhira blazed forth in brighter effulgence and became invincible. At his request Lomaśa told Jāmadagnyatejohānikathana (b) (v. Rāma^1).--§ 384: Yudhishṭhira wished to hear the details of Agastya. Lomaśa related: Agastyopākhyāna (q.v.).-§ 385: At the request of Yudhishṭhira Lomaśa related how Agastya had caused Vindhya (q.v.) to cease to increase (§ 385), how Agastya drank up the Ocean (§ 386, cf. Agastyopākhyāna), Sagara (§ 387), Asamañjas (§ 388), Gaṅgāvataraṇa (§ 389).--§ 390: Then Yudhishṭhira proceeded to the rivers Nandā and Aparanandā and the Hemakūṭa (b, cf. Ṛshabhakūṭa) mountain. Having, at the command of Lomaśa, bathed in Nandā, they proceeded to the river Kauśikī (c) with the hermitages of Viśvāmitra and of Kāśyapa, the father of Ṛshyaśṛṅga (d).--§ 391: At the request of Yudhishṭhira Lomaśa told the history of Ṛshyaśṛṅga (q.v.)--§ 392: Starting from Kauśikī, Yudhishṭhira in succession repaired to all the sacred shrines (āyatanāni) and came to the sea where the Gaṅgā falls into it, and bathed in the centre of 500 rivers. Then they proceeded by the shore of the sea towards the Kaliṅga country. Lomaśa said: “Here is the river Vaitaraṇī (b).” When they had all bathed in the Vaitaraṇī, Yudhishṭhira felt as if he were carried off from the region of men, and beheld all worlds, and heard the reciting of Vaikhānasas, whom Lomaśa declared to be at the distance of 300, 000 yojanas. Lomaśa ordered him to be silent, as this was the divine forest of Svayambhū (Svayambhuvo vanaṃ) (c)
taught by Lomaśa the words to be recited (Oṃ namo viśvaguptāya, etc. []) Yudhishṭhira mounted the altar of Kaśyapa and bathed in the sea
then he went to the Mahendra mountain and spent the night there (III, 114).--§ 393: Lomaśa told Yudhishṭhira the names of the ascetics (Bhṛgus, Aṅgirases, Vāsishṭhas, Kāśyapas), and he, with his brothers, paid a visit to them. Akṛtavraṇa, a follower of Rāma Jāmadagnya, told him when Paraśu-Rāma (q.v.) appeared, and that the following day was the 14th.--§ 394: At the request of Yudhishṭhira, Akṛtavraṇa (b) related the story of Arjuna Kārtavīrya (q.v.), and Jamadagni (q.v.), and Paraśurāma (q.v.) (§§ 394--8)--§ 399: Mahendrācala-gamana (q.v.).--§ 400: On their journey to the tīrthas they bathed in a holy stream, and thence reached to Godāvarī and to the sea (in the Draviḍa country)
then to Agastyatīrtha and the Nārītīrthas, where they heard of and praised the deed of Arjuna, and gave away thousands of cows, and by and by they reached Śūrpāraka (C. Sūrpº), where they saw the altar of Ṛcīka's son surrounded by crowds of ascetics, and the shrines of the Vasus, of the hosts of the Maruts, of the Aśvins, Vaivasvata, Āditya, Dhaneśvara, Indra, Vishṇu, Savitṛ, Bhava, Candra, Divākara, and of the lord of waters, and of the host of Sādhyas, of Dhātṛ, of the Pitṛs, of Rudra with his host, of Sarasvatī, of the host of Siddhas, etc., and then returned to Śūrpāraka, and from this tīrtha at the sea they came to Prabhāsa, where they offered libations to the Pitṛs and gods, and where Yudhishṭhira practised austerities for twelve days, subsisting upon air and water, and performing ablutions day and night, surrounded by fires kindled on all sides. There came to them Balarāma, Kṛshṇa, Śāmba, etc., Kārshṇi, the grandson of Śini, and other Vṛshṇis, and heard what had happened to them, and wept when they saw the Pāṇḍavas so exceedingly lean (III, 118).--§ 401: Bala-Rāma (q.v.).-§ 402: Sātyaki, citing Śaibya, etc., who did the work for Yayāti, recommended that Rāma, Kṛshṇa, Pradyumna, Śāmba (b), himself, Aniruddha, Gada, Ulmuka, Bāhuka, Bhānu, Nītha, the young hero Niśatha, Sāraṇa, and Cārudeshṇa should lead the united army of the Vṛshṇis, Bhojas, Andhakas, Sāttvatas, and Śūras (C. Sūº) against the Dhārtarāshṭras and kill them in battle, and that Abhimanyu should rule the earth until Yudhishṭhira had fulfilled his vow. Kṛshṇa said that the Pāṇḍavas would never accept the sovereignty unless it were won by their own prowess, and Yudhishṭhira assented to the words of Kṛshṇa, saying, that as Kṛshṇa alone knew him, so he alone knew Kṛshṇa, who would perceive when the time had come for bravery, and he and Sātyaki would then defeat Suyodhana. Then the Yadus returned home, and the Pāṇḍavas continued their journey accompanied by Lomaśa, and came to the river Payoshṇī (c).-§ 403: Lomaśa spoke of sacrifices that had formerly been performed at the Payoshṇī (b)
he who bathed in the Payoshṇī would obtain the same lokas as Gaya.--§ 404: Having bathed in the Payoshṇī they went to Vaidūryaparvata and Narmadā, where they, according to the exposition of Lomaśa, visited all the tīrthas and shrines, giving gifts to the brahmans by thousands. Lomaśa said that this was the junction between the Tretā and Dvāpara age, where a person is freed of all his sins, and that here was performed the sacrifice of Śaryāti (b), Yudhishṭhira wished to hear more about it (III, 121).--§ 405: Sukanyopākhyāna (q.v.).--§ 406: Lomaśa recommended to Yudhishṭhira to visit the abovenamed lake, and Sikatāksha, and the Saindhava wood, and Pushkara (reciting the hymns of Sthāṇu, this being the junction of the Dvāpara and Tretā, etc.), and Ārcīkaparvata (b). Here the ṛshis eat rice boiled in milk. Here(?) is the Yamunā, where Kṛshṇa performed austerities
there is the holy spring of Indra, where Dhātṛ, Vidhātṛ, and Varuṇa rose upwards. In the Yamunā Māndhātṛ and Somaka Sāhadevi performed sacrifices (III, 125).--§ 407: Māndhātrupākhyāna (q.v.).--§ 408: Jantūpākhyāna (q.v.).--§§ 409--10: Plakshāvataraṇa-gamana (q.v.).--§ 411: Śyenakapotīya (q.v.). --§ 412: When they arrived at the hermitage of Śvetaketu (b) (who, with his sister's son Ashṭāvakra, was the best in that yuga of those conversant with the sacred lore (brahmakṛtāṃ), where Śvetaketu beheld the goddess Sarasvatī in her human shape and spoke unto her, “may I be endowed with the gift of speech, ” Lomaśa related: Ashṭāvakrīya (q.v.).--§ 413: Lomaśa pointed out to Yudhishṭhira Samaṅgā [or]
Madhuvilā, where Indra, after the slaughter of Vṛtra, became purified from all sins, Kardamila, Maināka (cf. Aditi), the Kanakhala mountains, Gaṅgā, the lake Puṇya, the mountain Bhṛgutuṅga, Ushṇīgaṅga (PCR. Tuº), the hermitage of Sthālaśiras, and that of Raibhya (b).--§ 414: Questioned by Yudhishṭhira, Lomaśa related the Yavakrītopākhyāna (q.v.).--§ 418: They had soon passed the mountains Uśīrabīja, Maināka, Śveta, and Kālaśaila, and saw the seven-fold Gaṅgā (b). Here was the playground of the gods marked with their footprints (caraṇāṅkitaṃ). Now they should proceed to the mountains Kālaśaila, Śveta, and Mandara (c)
protected by Kubera, etc., and by Yātudhānas, these mountains are difficult to ascend. There are also other followers of Kubera, cruel and friendly (raudrā maitrāś ca) Rākshasas. Description of Kailāsa (d). Lomaśa asked Varuṇa, Yama, Gaṅgā (“the daughter of the mountain”, v. 10836), Yamunā, the mountain, the Maruts, the Aśvins, the rivers to vouchsafe Yudhishṭhira safety from gods, Asuras, and Vasus, and the mountains. Yudhishṭhira recommended them all to practise here the utmost cleanliness, and asked Bhīma to protect Kṛshṇā, who, in times of danger, even if Arjuna were present, ever sought protection from Bhīma (III, 139).--§§ 419--23: Gandhamādana-praveśa (q.v.). --§ 424: Bhīma-kadalī-khaṇḍa-praveśa (q.v.).--§§ 425--6: Hanūmad-Bhīma-saṃvāda (q.v.).--§ 427: Tretā-yuga (q.v.). --§ 428: Dvāpara-yuga (q.v.).--§ 429: Kuli-yuga (q.v.).-§ 430: Hanūmad-Bhīma-saṃvāda (q.v.).--§§ 431--4: Saugandhikāharaṇa (q.v.).