mbodied forms,
and the Rishis endued with wealth of asceticism, adore Brahma, and there
the gods and rulers of territories also celebrate their sacrifices. The
learned, however, say that of all these tirthas, O exalted one, Prayaga
is the most sacred, in fact, the foremost of all tirthas in the three
worlds. By going to that tirtha, by singing its praises, or by taking a
little earth from it, one is cleansed from every sin. He that bathes in
that confluence celebrated over the world, acquires all the merits of the
Rajasuya and the horse-sacrifices. This sacrificial place is worshipped
by the gods themselves. If a man giveth there ever so little, it
increaseth, O Bharata, a thousandfold. O child, let not the texts of the
Veda, nor the opinions of men dissuade thy mind from the desire of dying
at Prayaga. O son of the Kuru race, the wise say that six hundred million
and ten thousand tirthas exist at Prayaga. Bathing in the confluence of
Ganga and Yamuna, one obtains the merit that attaches to the four kinds
of knowledge and the merits also of those that are truthful. There at
Prayaga is the excellent tirtha of Vasuki called Bhogavati. He that
batheth in it, obtaineth the merit of the horse-sacrifice. There also in
the Ganga is the tirtha famed over the three worlds, called
Ramaprapatana, which conferreth the merit of ten horse-sacrifices. O son
of the Kuru race! Wherever may a person bathe in the Ganga, he earneth
merit equal to that of a trip to Kurukshetra. An exception, however, is
made in favour of Kanakhala, while the merit attaching to Prayaga is the
greatest. Having committed a hundred sins, he that bathes in the Ganga,
hath all his sins washed off by the waters thereof, even as fuel is
consumed by fire. It hath been said that in the Satyayuga all the tirthas
were sacred; in the Treta, Pushkara alone was such; in Dwapara,
Kurukshetra; and in the Kali-yuga, the Ganga alone is sacred. In
Pushkara, one should practise austerities; in Mahalaya, one should give
away; in the Malaya mountains, one should ascend the funeral pyre; and in
Bhrigutunga, one should renounce one's body by forgoing food. Bathing in
Pushkara, in Kurukshetra, in the Ganga and in the confluence (of the
Ganga and the Yamuna), one sanctifieth seven generations of one's race up
and down. He that reciteth the name of the Ganga is purified; while he
that beholdeth her, receiveth prosperity; while he that bathes in her and
drinks of her waters sanctifieth s