Prayāga Māhātmya in the Svarga Khaṇḍa

Chapters 40 to 49 of the Svarga Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa teach the greatness (māhātmya) of Prayāga. The teaching comes inside a story. After the Mahābhārata war, the ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi visits Yudhishṭhira, who is deep in sorrow at Hastināpura. Mārkaṇḍeya teaches him about Prayāga: its boundary, its guardians, and the puṇya (merit) of snāna (holy bathing), dāna (gifts), darśana (seeing the place), and death there. This is Mārkaṇḍeya’s gift of comfort to the dharma-rāja, who is weighed down by the pāpa (sin) of the war.

Grief at Hastināpura after the war

After the Mahābhārata war, Yudhishṭhira took the kingdom but could find no peace. He thought about it again and again. Droṇa, Bhīshma, Karṇa, the sons of his brothers, Duryodhana and all his allies were dead. He said: “We five lived on under the shelter of Vāsudeva while all these heroes were killed. What use is this kingdom? What use are these pleasures? What use is life itself? Shame on this!”

In his despair he fell silent with his head bowed. His surviving brothers, Kuntī, Draupadī and everyone present fell to the ground weeping beside him.

Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi was then living at Vārāṇasī. Through his all-knowing sight he learned how Yudhishṭhira was grieving. In a very short time he came to the gate of the kingdom of Hastināpura. The door-keepers told Yudhishṭhira at once, and he hurried out with joy to meet him.

Yudhishṭhira said: “O Mahāprajña! Welcome! O Mahāmune! Welcome! Today my birth is fulfilled. Today our kula (family line) has been made pure. Today our pitṛs (forefathers) are satisfied by your darśana.” He seated the mahāmuni on a throne (siṃhāsana), offered ācamana (water for sipping) and pādya (water for the feet), and honoured him fully. (Chapter 40)

Mārkaṇḍeya’s comfort and teaching

Mārkaṇḍeya first spoke to Yudhishṭhira plainly: “Where there is dharma, pāpa does not live. A wise man who acts on the battlefield has no pāpa. For kshatriyas this is their special dharma (viśesha-dharma). So do not think that you have done pāpa.”

Yudhishṭhira was reassured but not yet at peace. He asked what path he should take to be free from the weight of the war. Mārkaṇḍeya answered: “Three paths are spoken of for removing pāpa (pāpa-parihāra): Sāṃkhya, Yoga and Tīrtha. Of these, going to Prayāga, the great tīrtha, is declared the best remedy for pious men.”

Then he taught the whole greatness of Prayāga. (Chapters 40–41)

The sacred boundary

Mārkaṇḍeya set out the boundary of Prayāga. It reaches from the Dharmakī-hrada (the lake of Dharma) to the Vāsukī-hrada (the lake of Vāsuki). Inside this kshetra (holy ground) live the nāgas Kambala and Aśvatara, many rare medicinal herbs, and countless tīrthas.

This is the Prajāpati-kshetra, the kshetra of Brahmā. It is tri-loka-prasiddha, known in all three worlds. Those who bathe here go to svarga. Those who die here are not born again. (Chapter 41)

The divine guardians

The Svarga Khaṇḍa says exactly who guards each part of Prayāga:

  • Sixty thousand dhanus of the Gaṅgā are guarded by sixty thousand devas who carry bows.
  • The Yamunā is guarded for ever by Sūrya, who rides his seven-horsed chariot.
  • Prayāga itself is guarded by Indra in person.
  • The whole maṇḍala (region) is guarded by Bhagavān Vishṇu together with all the devas.
  • The holy Vaṭa tree is guarded by Śūlapāṇi Maheśvara himself.

People who have not done dharma cannot even reach Prayāga. Only to remember Prayāga (smṛti) destroys small pāpa. Only to say its name destroys middling pāpa. To see the kshetra (darśana) or to touch its holy soil destroys all pāpa. (Chapter 41)

The Vaṭa tree

The Akshaya Vaṭa at Prayāga is described with special wonder. At the time of pralaya (dissolution) the twelve Ādityas, Sūrya riding his seven-horsed chariot and the other eleven, will burn up everything. Yet they will not burn the root of the Vaṭa tree (Vaṭa-mūla).

Bhagavān Vishṇu himself sleeps at this place again and again between kalpas, resting on a leaf of the Vaṭa tree (Vaṭa-patra).

A person who lives at the Vaṭa-mūla, keeps brahmacarya, holds the senses in check (indriya-nigraha), and keeps fasts (upavāsa) and yoga, gains Brahma-jñāna (knowledge of Brahman). A person who gives up life at the Vaṭa-mūla goes beyond all the lokas and reaches Rudra-loka. (Chapter 43)

The merit of snāna, dāna and death

The Svarga Khaṇḍa lists the phala (fruit, reward) of different acts at Prayāga.

Snāna

  • Dīkshā-snāna (a bath taken with a vow) at the saṃgama (meeting) of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā equals a Rājasūya and an Aśvamedha.
  • Māgha-snāna: sixty-six thousand tīrthas enter the saṃgama. In three days one gains the puṇya of giving ten thousand cows.
  • Pañcāgni-tapas (austerity among five fires) at the saṃgama: a stay in svarga as many years as there are pores of hair (romakūpa); then a return to earth as ruler of Jambūdvīpa.

Dāna

  • Go-dāna (gift of a cow) of a kapila-pāṭala cow with golden horns, silver hooves and an ornamental thread on its neck, given to a śrotriya brāhmaṇa: a stay in svarga of as many thousands of years as the cow has pores of hair. The giver never sees naraka and enjoys Uttarakuru.
  • Kanyā-dāna (giving a daughter in marriage) between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā: the giver never sees the terrible narakas, enjoys Uttarakuru, and is born with a son who follows dharma and a good wife.

Death

  • Dying at the Gaṅgā-Yamunā saṃgama: rising to svarga in a golden-coloured vimāna; enjoyment with gandharvas and apsarasas; six thousand years in svarga; a return as a king in Jambūdvīpa.
  • Dying anywhere in the world while saying Prayāga’s name at the moment of death: Brahmaloka.
  • Dying at the Vaṭa-mūla: Rudra-loka.

(Chapters 41–49)

Tīrthas named

The Svarga Khaṇḍa names several holy places within Prayāga:

  • Dharmakī-hrada: the boundary marker to the north.
  • Vāsukī-hrada: the boundary marker to the south.
  • Kambala-Aśvatara tīrtha: the nāga-tīrtha on the south bank of the Yamunā. Bathing and drinking here frees a person from all pāpa.
  • Urvaśī-pulina: the white sandbank. Dying here gives sixty-six thousand years in svarga with the pitṛs, and a return with many beautiful wives and cattle.
  • Haṃsa-prapātana: north of Pratishṭhāna. A bath here gives the phala of an Aśvamedha, and a stay in svarga as long as the Sun and Moon last.
  • Koṭi-tīrtha: dying here gives a thousand crore years in svarga, and a return in a noble family.
  • Pratishṭhāna: on the north of the saṃgama.
  • Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa: a bath here gives the phala of ten Aśvamedha yajñas.
  • Ṛṇa-pramocana tīrtha: south of Prayāga and north of the Yamunā. One night’s stay frees a person from every ṛṇa (debt) and brings Sūrya-loka.

(Chapters 43–45)

Sources

  • Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Svarga Khaṇḍa, Chapters 40–49