The Guardians and Glory of Prayaga

Verse 1 (padma.3.41.1)

युधिष्ठिर उवाच । भगवञ्छ्रोतुमिच्छामि पुराकल्पे यथास्थितम् । कथं प्रयागगमनं नराणां तत्र कीदृशम् ।

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca bhagavañchrotumicchāmi purākalpe yathāsthitam kathaṁ prayāgagamanaṁ narāṇāṁ tatra kīdṛśam

Yudhishthira said: O blessed one, I wish to hear how it stood in the ancient kalpa — how is it that men go to Prayaga, and of what sort is that place?

Verse 2 (padma.3.41.2)

मृतानां का गतिस्तत्र स्नातानां चैव किं फलम् । ये वसंति प्रयागे तु ब्रूहि तेषां च किं फलम् । एतन्मे सर्वमाख्याहि परं कौतूहलं हि मे ।

mṛtānāṁ kā gatistatra snātānāṁ caiva kiṁ phalam ye vasaṁti prayāge tu brūhi teṣāṁ ca kiṁ phalam etanme sarvamākhyāhi paraṁ kautūhalaṁ hi me

What is the destiny of those who die there, and what is the fruit of those who bathe there? And tell me the fruit of those who dwell at Prayaga. Tell me all of this, for I have great curiosity about it.

Verse 3 (padma.3.41.3)

मार्कंडेय उवाच । कथयिष्यामि ते वत्स नाथेष्टं यच्च यत्फलम् । पुरा ऋषीणां विप्राणां कथ्यमानं मया श्रुतम् ।

mārkaṁḍeya uvāca kathayiṣyāmi te vatsa nātheṣṭaṁ yacca yatphalam purā ṛṣīṇāṁ viprāṇāṁ kathyamānaṁ mayā śrutam

Markandeya said: I shall tell you, my child, what is desired by the Lord of Prayaga and what its fruit is — what I heard being told long ago among sages and Brahmins.

Verse 4 (padma.3.41.4)

आप्रयागात्प्रतिष्ठानाद्धर्मकी वासुकी ह्रदात् । कंबलाश्वतरौ नागौ नागाश्च बहुमूलिकाः ।

āprayāgātpratiṣṭhānāddharmakī vāsukī hradāt kaṁbalāśvatarau nāgau nāgāśca bahumūlikāḥ

From Pratishthana up to Prayaga, from Dharmaki, from Vasuki's pool, guarded by the two serpents Kambala and Ashvatara, and the Nagas of Bahumulika —

Verse 5 (padma.3.41.5)

एतत्प्रजापतिक्षेत्रं त्रिषु लोकेषु विश्रुतम् । अत्र स्नात्वा दिवं यांति ये मृतास्तेऽपुनर्भवाः ।

etatprajāpatikṣetraṁ triṣu lokeṣu viśrutam atra snātvā divaṁ yāṁti ye mṛtāste'punarbhavāḥ

this is the field of Prajapati, renowned in the three worlds; bathing here, those who die go to heaven, never to be reborn.

Verse 6 (padma.3.41.6)

तत्र ब्रह्मादयो देवा रक्षां कुर्वंति संगताः । अन्ये च बहवस्तीर्थाः सर्वपापप्रणाशनाः ।

tatra brahmādayo devā rakṣāṁ kurvaṁti saṁgatāḥ anye ca bahavastīrthāḥ sarvapāpapraṇāśanāḥ

There Brahma and the other gods, assembled together, keep guard; and there are many other tirthas as well, destroyers of all sin.

Verse 7 (padma.3.41.7)

न शक्याः कथितुं राजन्बहुवर्षशतैरपि । संक्षेपेण प्रवक्ष्यामि प्रयागस्य च कीर्त्तनम् ।

na śakyāḥ kathituṁ rājanbahuvarṣaśatairapi saṁkṣepeṇa pravakṣyāmi prayāgasya ca kīrttanam

They cannot be told, O king, even in many hundreds of years; I shall tell in brief the glorification of Prayaga.

Verse 8 (padma.3.41.8)

षष्टिर्धनुः सहस्राणि परिरक्षंति जाह्नवीम् । यमुनां रक्षति सदा सविता सप्तवाहनः ।

ṣaṣṭirdhanuḥ sahasrāṇi parirakṣaṁti jāhnavīm yamunāṁ rakṣati sadā savitā saptavāhanaḥ

Sixty thousand bow-lengths of ground protect the Jahnavi all around; the Yamuna is ever protected by Savitri, the sun of seven horses.

Verse 9 (padma.3.41.9)

प्रयागं तु विशेषेण स्वयं रक्षति वासवः । मंडलं रक्षति हरिर्देवैः सह सुसंमतम् ।

prayāgaṁ tu viśeṣeṇa svayaṁ rakṣati vāsavaḥ maṁḍalaṁ rakṣati harirdevaiḥ saha susaṁmatam

Prayaga especially is protected by Vasava himself; Hari, together with the gods, well-honored, protects its sacred circle.

Verse 10 (padma.3.41.10)

तं वटं रक्षते नित्यं शूलपाणिर्महेश्वरः । स्थानं रक्षति वै देवः सर्वपापहरं शुभम् ।

taṁ vaṭaṁ rakṣate nityaṁ śūlapāṇirmaheśvaraḥ sthānaṁ rakṣati vai devaḥ sarvapāpaharaṁ śubham

The trident-bearing Maheshvara ever protects the banyan tree there; the god himself protects that auspicious place, destroying all sin.

Verse 11 (padma.3.41.11)

अधर्मेण वृतो लोके नैव गच्छति तत्पदम् । स्वल्पमल्पतरं पापं यदा तस्य नराधिप ।

adharmeṇa vṛto loke naiva gacchati tatpadam svalpamalpataraṁ pāpaṁ yadā tasya narādhipa

One consumed by unrighteousness in the world does not reach that state at all. But when a man's sin is small, or smaller still, O lord of men —

Verse 12 (padma.3.41.12)

प्रयागस्मरमाणस्य सर्वमायाति संक्षयम् । दर्शनात्तस्य तीर्थस्य नामसंकीर्तनादपि ।

prayāgasmaramāṇasya sarvamāyāti saṁkṣayam darśanāttasya tīrthasya nāmasaṁkīrtanādapi

merely by his remembering Prayaga, all of it goes to complete destruction. By seeing that tirtha, or even merely by reciting its name,

Verse 13 (padma.3.41.13)

मृत्तिका लभनाद्वापि नरः पापाद्विमुच्यते । पंचकुंडानि राजेंद्र येषां मध्ये तु जाह्नवी ।

mṛttikā labhanādvāpi naraḥ pāpādvimucyate paṁcakuṁḍāni rājeṁdra yeṣāṁ madhye tu jāhnavī

or even by obtaining its clay, a man is freed from sin. O lord of kings, there are five kundas, in the midst of which flows the Jahnavi.

Verse 14 (padma.3.41.14)

प्रयागे तु प्रविष्टस्य पापं क्षरति तत्क्षणात् । योजनानां सहस्रेषु गंगां स्मरति यो नरः ।

prayāge tu praviṣṭasya pāpaṁ kṣarati tatkṣaṇāt yojanānāṁ sahasreṣu gaṁgāṁ smarati yo naraḥ

For one who enters Prayaga, sin flows away at that very instant. A man who remembers the Ganga even from a thousand yojanas away —

Verse 15 (padma.3.41.15)

अपि दुष्कृतकर्मासौ लभते परमां गतिम् । कीर्तनान्मुच्यते पापैर्दृष्ट्वा भद्राणि पश्यति ।

api duṣkṛtakarmāsau labhate paramāṁ gatim kīrtanānmucyate pāpairdṛṣṭvā bhadrāṇi paśyati

even if a doer of evil deeds, he attains the supreme goal. By reciting her name he is freed from sin; by beholding her, he sees only auspicious things.

Verse 16 (padma.3.41.16)

अवगाह्य च पीत्वा च पुनात्यासप्तमं कुलम् । सत्यवादी जितक्रोधो अहिंसां परमास्थितः ।

avagāhya ca pītvā ca punātyāsaptamaṁ kulam satyavādī jitakrodho ahiṁsāṁ paramāsthitaḥ

Bathing in her and drinking her waters, he purifies his family up to the seventh generation. A speaker of truth, one who has conquered anger, one firmly established in supreme non-violence,

Verse 17 (padma.3.41.17)

धर्मानुसारी तत्त्वज्ञो गोब्राह्मणहिते रतः । गंगायमुनयोर्मध्ये स्नातो मुच्येत किल्बिषात् ।

dharmānusārī tattvajño gobrāhmaṇahite rataḥ gaṁgāyamunayormadhye snāto mucyeta kilbiṣāt

one who follows dharma, a knower of truth, devoted to the welfare of cows and Brahmins — bathing between the Ganga and the Yamuna, he is freed from sin,

Verse 18 (padma.3.41.18)

मनसा चिंतितान्कामान्सम्यक्प्राप्नोति पुष्कलान् । ततो गत्त्वा प्रयागं तु सर्वदेवाभिरक्षितम् ।

manasā ciṁtitānkāmānsamyakprāpnoti puṣkalān tato gattvā prayāgaṁ tu sarvadevābhirakṣitam

and he fully obtains in abundance whatever desires he has conceived in his mind. Then, having gone to Prayaga, protected by all the gods —

Verse 19 (padma.3.41.19)

ब्रह्मचारी वसेन्मासं पितृदेवांश्च तर्पयेत् । ईप्सिताँल्लभते कामान्यत्र तत्राभिजायते ।

brahmacārī vasenmāsaṁ pitṛdevāṁśca tarpayet īpsitā~llabhate kāmānyatra tatrābhijāyate

let a celibate dwell there a month, and offer libations to the ancestors and gods; he obtains his desired wishes, and is reborn wherever he wishes.

Verse 20 (padma.3.41.20)

तपनस्य सुता देवी त्रिषु लोकेषु विश्रुता । समागता महाभागा यमुना यत्र निम्नगाः ।

tapanasya sutā devī triṣu lokeṣu viśrutā samāgatā mahābhāgā yamunā yatra nimnagāḥ

The goddess, daughter of the Sun, renowned in the three worlds, the greatly fortunate Yamuna, has come together there with the river flowing downward.

Verse 21 (padma.3.41.21)

तत्र सन्निहितो नित्यं साक्षाद्देवो महेश्वरः । दुष्प्रापं मानुषैः पुण्यं प्रयागं तु युधिष्ठिर ।

tatra sannihito nityaṁ sākṣāddevo maheśvaraḥ duṣprāpaṁ mānuṣaiḥ puṇyaṁ prayāgaṁ tu yudhiṣṭhira

There the god Maheshvara is ever present in visible form. O Yudhishthira, Prayaga's merit is hard indeed for men to attain.

Verse 22 (padma.3.41.22)

देवदानवगंधर्वा ऋषयः सिद्धचारणाः । तत्रोपस्पृश्य राजेंद्र स्वर्गलोके महीयते ।

devadānavagaṁdharvā ṛṣayaḥ siddhacāraṇāḥ tatropaspṛśya rājeṁdra svargaloke mahīyate

Gods, Danavas, Gandharvas, sages, Siddhas, and Charanas frequent it; touching its waters there, O lord of kings, one is glorified in Svargaloka.