ind of Kurukshetra and Gaya and Ganga
and Prabhasa and the lakes of Pushkara, one should dip one's head in
water. By so doing one becomes cleansed of all one's sins like Chandramas
freed from Rahu. One should bathe in this way for three days in
succession and then fast for every day. Besides this, one should touch
(after bathing) the back of a cow and bow one's head to her tail.'
Vidyutprabha, after this, once more addressing Vasava, said, 'I shall
declare a rite that is more subtle. Listen to me, O thou of a hundred
sacrifices. Rubbed with the astringent powder of the hanging roots of the
banian and anointed with the oil of Priyangu, one should eat the
Shashtika paddy mixed with milk. By so doing one becomes cleansed of all
one's sins[543]. Listen now to another mystery unknown to many but which
was discovered by the Rishis with the aid of meditation. I heard it from
Vrihaspati while he recited it in the presence of Mahadeva. O chief of
the deities, do thou hear it with Rudra in thy company, O lord of Sachi!
If a person, ascending a mountain, stands there on one foot, with arms
upraised and joined together, and abstaining from food looks at a blazing
fire, he acquires the merits of severe penances and obtains the rewards
that attach to fasts. Heated by the rays of the sun, he becomes cleansed
of all his sins. One who acts in this way in both the summer and the
winter seasons, becomes freed from every sin. Cleansed of every sin, one
acquires a splendour of complexion for all time. Such a man blazes with
energy like the Sun or shines in beauty like the Moon!' After this, the
chief of the deities, viz., he of a hundred sacrifices, seated in the
midst of the gods, then sweetly addressed Vrihaspati, saying these
excellent words, 'O holy one, do thou duly discourse on what those
mysteries of religion are that are fraught with happiness to human
beings, and what the faults are which they commit, together with the
mysteries that attach to them!'

"'"Vrihaspati said, 'They who pass urine, facing the sun, they who do not
show reverence for the wind, they who do not pour libations on the
blazing fire, they who milk a cow whose calf is very young, moved by the
desire of obtaining from her as much milk as possible, commit sins. I
shall declare what those faults are, O lord of Sachi! Do thou listen to
me. The Sun, Wind, the bearer of sacrificial oblations, O Vasava, and
kine who are the mothers of all creatures, were created by the S