,
which men without wealth, without allies, singly, without wife and
children, and destitute of means, are capable of accomplishing and the
merit of which is equal unto the sacred fruits of sacrifices, I will now
declare unto thee, thou best of warriors! O thou best of the Bharata
race, sojourns in tirthas which are meritorious and which constitute one
of the high mysteries of the Rishis, are even superior to sacrifices. He
is a poor man who having gone to a tirtha hath not fasted for three
nights, who hath not given away gold, and who hath not distributed kine.
Indeed, one acquireth not, by the performance of the Agnishtoma and other
sacrifices distinguished by large gifts, that merit which one requireth
by a sojourn to a tirtha. In the world of men, there is that tirtha of
the God of gods, celebrated over the three worlds by the name of
Pushkara. One that sojourneth there becometh equal unto that deity. O
high-souled son of the Kuru race, during the two twilights and mid-day
there is the presence of hundred thousand millions of tirthas in
Pushkara. The Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Sadhyas, the Maruts,
the Gandharvas, and the Apsaras are ever present, O exalted one, in
Pushkara. It was there, O king, that the gods, the Daityas and
Brahmarshis, having performed ascetic devotions there, obtained great
merit and finally attained to god-hood.'"

"Men of self-control, by even thinking mentally of Pushkara, are cleansed
from their sins, and regarded in heaven. O king, the illustrious
grand-sire having the lotus for his seat, had dwelt with great pleasure
in this tirtha. O blessed one, it was in Pushkara that the gods with the
Rishis having acquired of old great merit, finally obtained the highest
success. The person who, devoted to the worship of the gods and the
Pitris, batheth in this tirtha, obtaineth, it hath been said by the wise,
merit that is equal to ten times that of the horse-sacrifice. Having gone
to the Pushkara woods, he that feedeth even one Brahmana, becometh happy
here and hereafter, O Bhishma, for that act. He that supporteth himself
on vegetables and roots and fruits, may with pious regard and without
disrespect, give even such fare to a Brahmana. And, O best of kings, the
man of wisdom, even by such a gift, will acquire the merit of a
horse-sacrifice. Those illustrious persons among Brahmanas or Kshatriyas
or Vaisyas or Sudras that bathe in Pushkara are freed from the obligation
of rebirth. That man