. O tell me this with
certainty."

"'Pulastya said, "O son, listen with attention. I will tell thee of the
merit which attacheth to _tirthas_ and which constituteth the refuge of
the Rishis. He whose hands and feet and mind and knowledge and
asceticism and acts are under wholesome control, enjoyeth the fruits of
_tirthas_. He who has ceased to accept gifts, he that is contented, he
that is free from pride enjoys the fruits of _tirthas_. He that is
without sin, he that acts without purpose, he that eats light, he that
has his senses under control, he that is free from every sin, enjoys the
fruits of _tirthas_. O king, he that is free from anger, he that
adhereth to truth, he that is firm in vows, he that regardeth all
creatures as his own self, enjoyeth the fruits of _tirthas_. In the
Vedas the Rishis have declared in due order the sacrifices and also
their fruits here and hereafter truly. O lord of earth, those sacrifices
cannot be accomplished by him that is poor, for those sacrifices require
various materials and diverse things in large measures. These, therefore
can be performed by kings or sometimes by other men of prosperity and
wealth. O lord of men, that rite, however, 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 Daity