Prayāga

Prayāga is the Triveṇī saṅgama, the holy meeting of three rivers: the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā and the Sarasvatī, who flows unseen under the ground. It lies where the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā join. The Agni Purāṇa calls it the best of all tīrthas (holy crossing places) and the brahma-yajña-vedī, the altar of Brahmā’s yajña for the whole cosmos.

The Purāṇas also call Prayāga the Tīrtharāja, the king of tīrthas. Brahmā, the Viśva-devatās, great ṛshis, siddhas, gandharvas, apsarases and even the ocean live here. All the Vedas and yajñas take bodily form here. The puṇya (merit) earned at Prayāga through dāna (giving), snāna (holy bathing), śrāddha (rites for the ancestors) and japa (silent repetition of a mantra) never runs out.

The meeting of three rivers

Prayāga is where three sacred streams meet. The Gaṅgā is the divine river from svarga, who came down through the jaṭā (matted hair) of Bhagavān Śiva. The Yamunā is the daughter of Sūrya and is famed in all three worlds. The Sarasvatī flows underground. Ordinary eyes cannot see her, but she is present in the saṅgama (confluence).

The Agni Purāṇa says the ṛshis call the land between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā the jaghana of the earth (her loins). They call the middle of Prayāga itself the upastha, the most private and most sacred part of the body of the holy land.

Three agni-kuṇḍas (fire pits) stand at Prayāga. The Gaṅgā carries all the tīrthas of the world within her and flows swiftly through the middle of these three kuṇḍas. This confluence is the brahma-yajña-vedī, Brahmā’s altar, and the Vedas and yajñas stand here in bodily form. The Agni Purāṇa also says that sixty crore and ten thousand tīrthas live within Prayāga.

The Agni Purāṇa on Prayāga

Who lives at Prayāga

The Agni Purāṇa teaches that Brahmā and all the devas live at Prayāga for ever. The ocean lives here too. Siddhas, gandharvas and apsarases make their home at this tīrtha.

The tīrthas linked with Prayāga are Kambala and Aśvatara (the two nāga tīrthas), the Bhogavatī tīrtha of Vāsuki, Haṃsa-prapātana, Prayāga with Pratishṭhāna, and the Mānasa tīrtha. The Purāṇa calls all of them supremely holy.

Rising degrees of puṇya

The Agni Purāṇa lists the māhātmya (greatness) of Prayāga in rising steps.

• To praise Prayāga, to chant its names (nāma-saṅkīrtana), or to touch its holy soil frees a person from all pāpa.
• Dāna, śrāddha and japa done at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama at Prayāga give fruit that never runs out.
• Bathing for three days at the Bhogavatī tīrtha and at Haṃsa-prapātana gives the puṇya of giving one crore cows.
• One who gives dāna at Prayāga goes up to svarga, then returns to the earth as a rājādhirāja (king of kings).
• One who dies at the root of the Akshaya-vaṭa or at the saṅgama reaches Vishṇu-loka.

The Akshaya-vaṭa and death at Prayāga

The Agni Purāṇa gives special weight to the Akshaya-vaṭa, the undying banyan tree, as the holiest spot in Prayāga. One who dies near the Akshaya-vaṭa or at the saṅgama goes straight to Vishṇu-loka.

The Purāṇa also quotes the advice of the Vedas and of the great teachers of dharma. One must never give up the wish to end one’s life at Prayāga, because death there leads at once to moksha (liberation).

Tīrthas within Prayāga

The Agni Purāṇa names these tīrthas within Prayāga.

• Ūrvaśī-pulina: a beautiful sandy shore linked with the apsarā Ūrvaśī.
• Saṃdhyā-vāla: a tīrtha of great holiness.
• Koṭi-tīrtha: the tīrtha that holds ten million holy places.
• Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa: the ghāṭa where bathing gives the puṇya of ten Aśvamedha yajñas.
• Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama: the central confluence itself.
• Mānasa-tīrtha: the supremely pure tīrtha of the mind, called rajas-hīna (free from impurity).
• Vāsaraka-tīra: the bank of Vāsaraka.

All these together make Prayāga the best of all tīrthas.

The rare presence of the Gaṅgā

The Agni Purāṇa records a teaching of the learned: “The Gaṅgā may be found in many places at many times. But in the month of Māgha, at Gaṅgādvāra (Haridvāra), at Prayāga, and at the meeting of the Gaṅgā with the sea, her presence is very rare and hard to gain.” This rare presence of the Gaṅgā at Prayāga at the right time makes the Kumbha-snāna done there a bath of unmatched puṇya.

The Kūrma Purāṇa on Prayāga

The Kūrma Purāṇa (Poorvardha, Chapters 36–39) gives the māhātmya of Prayāga as a talk between the great ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya and Yudhishṭhira, son of Dharma. After the Kurukshetra war, Yudhishṭhira is full of grief. He visits Mārkaṇḍeya at the royal court and asks how he can be freed from the pāpa of the war. Mārkaṇḍeya answers that a journey to Prayāga is the first remedy.

The guardians of Prayāga

The Kūrma Purāṇa says Prayāga is a kshetra (holy ground) of great holiness because of its divine guardians.

• The devas watch over sixty thousand dhanus of the Gaṅgā.
• Sūrya, with his seven horses, guards the Yamunā for ever.
• Maheśvara himself, with his śūla (trident), guards the sacred earth (mṛttikā) of the confluence.
• Vishṇu guards the whole maṇḍala (circle) of the gathered devas.
• Brahmā and all the devas live at Prayāga for ever.
• Bhagavān Śiva himself lived here in earlier times.

The phala of a journey to Prayāga

Mārkaṇḍeya teaches Yudhishṭhira these fruits (phala) of a journey to Prayāga.

• If a person only thinks of Prayāga, sees it, or says its name, all pāpa is destroyed at once.
• The mṛttikā of the kshetra, put on the body as a lepa (paste), cleans away pāpa.
• One who dies at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama, having made a clear effort to do so, reaches the worlds he wishes for. Mārkaṇḍeya quotes the teachers of dharma, who say this wish must never be given up.
• One who dies at the root of the Akshaya-vaṭa or at the saṅgama goes beyond svarga to Śivaloka. Brahmā, the lokapālas and Bhagavān Vishṇu himself are around him.
• Sixty thousand tīrthas and sixty crore puṇya-sthānas (places of puṇya) live within Prayāga, and their puṇya is present there at all times.
• Snāna at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama gives puṇya equal to the rājasūya and aśvamedha yajñas.
• Kanyādāna (giving a daughter in marriage) done at Prayāga between the two rivers keeps the giver from seeing the terrible narakas and leads him to the enjoyments (bhoga) of Uttarakuru.

Tīrthas named in the Kūrma Purāṇa

The Kūrma Purāṇa names these tīrthas within the Prayāga kshetra.

• Kambala–Aśvatara tīrtha: on the south bank of the Yamunā. Bathing here and drinking its water frees a person from all pāpa and cleans ten earlier and ten later generations.
• Haṃsa-prapātana tīrtha: north of Pratishṭhāna, on the left bank of the Gaṅgā. Only to remember it (smṛti) gives the phala of the aśvamedha and svarga for as long as the sun and moon last.
• Ūrvaśī-pulina: the beautiful white sandbank. One who dies here lives in svarga with his pitṛs (ancestors) for sixty thousand six-hundred years.
• Saṃdhyā-vaṭa: a place of brahmacarya and tapas that gives Brahmaloka.
• Koṭi-tīrtha: one who dies here receives a thousand crore years of honour in svarga.
• Pratishṭhāna: on the north of the saṅgama. Bathing at its eastern bank brings praise in the three worlds.
• Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama: the central confluence itself, where every good act gives fruit that never runs out.

Māgha snāna at Prayāga

The Kūrma Purāṇa teaches that sixty thousand tīrthas and sixty crore puṇya-kshetras come to the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama in the month of Māgha. Three days of snāna at the saṅgama in Māgha give puṇya equal to giving one lakh cows.

The number of pores (romas) on the bather’s body decides the number of thousands of years he enjoys svarga. When he returns to earth he becomes ruler of Jambūdvīpa. In later lives he finds his way back to this tīrtha again and again. The text also warns that it is a serious offence to come to this tīrtha riding a bull (vṛshabha-vāhana).

The Gaṅgā’s special presence

Like the Agni Purāṇa, the Kūrma Purāṇa says through Mārkaṇḍeya that the Gaṅgā can be reached everywhere, but her presence at Gaṅgādvāra, at Prayāga, and at the Gaṅgā–sea saṅgama is especially rare and of unmatched puṇya. For those in the Kaliyuga who want freedom from pāpa, there is no help equal to the Gaṅgā. Prayāga is the place where the Gaṅgā is to be honoured with special śraddhā (faith).

Prayāga in the Kūrma Purāṇa, Uttarardha

The Uttarardha of the Kūrma Purāṇa (Chapter 34) says briefly that the tīrtha of Prayāga spreads over five yojanas. It is called Parameshṭhī’s tīrtha, the tīrtha of Brahmā (Parameshṭhī), who lives here for ever.

The Nārada Purāṇa on Prayāga

Poorvardha

The Nārada Purāṇa (Poorvardha, Chapters 6–7) calls Prayāga the best kshetra and tīrtha of all. Sanaka Maharshi teaches: “Of all tīrthas the best, of all kshetras the best, is the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama kshetra, Prayāga.”

The white and dark waters meet here, the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā. Brahmā, the great munis and the Manus serve this confluence for puṇya. All the abhisheka (holy bathing) of all the tīrthas in the world does not equal even one sixteenth of a single Gaṅgā-bindu-abhisheka (a drop of Gaṅgā water sprinkled on the head) here.

Brahmā himself performed yajñas at Prayāga, so it is the brahma-yajña-bhūmi. All the great maharshis also performed yajñas here.

Uttarardha

The Nārada Purāṇa (Uttarardha, Chapters 62–63) gives the fullest teaching on the Prayāga māhātmya, told by Vāsu to Mohinī. It covers how the Gaṅgā’s phala rises from place to place, the great holiness of Māgha snāna, the rules for a journey to the tīrtha, and the great power of death at Prayāga.

How the Gaṅgā’s phala rises from place to place

The Uttarardha says: “The west-flowing Gaṅgā joined with the Yamunā destroys the pāpa of 100 kalpas. Such a Gaṅgā in Māgha is very rare, even for the devas.” (Chapter 63)

All the devas come for Māgha snāna

When the Sun enters Makara-rāśi in Māgha, every divine being in the three worlds comes to the Triveṇī at Prayāga to bathe.

“Brahmā, Vishṇu, Maheśvara; the Rudras, Ādityas and Marut-gaṇas; the gandharvas, lokapālas, yakshas, kinnaras, guhyakas and the tattva-darśins; Sarasvatī, Pārvatī, Lakshmī, Śacī, Medhā, Aditi, Rati and all the wives of the devas; the nāga women, Ghṛtācī, Menakā, Rambhā, Ūrvaśī, Tilottamā and all the hosts of apsarases; the hosts of pitṛs: all come to bathe at the Veṇī in Māgha.”

In the Kṛtayuga they come in a form that can be seen. In the Kaliyuga they come hidden. All the tīrthas that had become unclean through the touch of pāpīs are made clean by their bath at Prayāga in Māgha and become white again (śukla-varṇa) (Chapter 63).

The Māgha-snāna mantra is: “Govinda, Acyuta, Mādhava! Give me the fruit of this snāna.” It is said silently before going into the water when the Sun is in Makara.

How the puṇya of Māgha snāna grows

The Uttarardha scales the puṇya of different kinds of bathing when the Sun is in Makara.

Those who bathe at Prayāga in Māgha when the Sun is in Makara live for 4,000 yugas in svarga. They do not return to the womb. They live in the presence (sannidhi) of Vishṇu. Brahmā himself weighed vrata, snāna, tapas, yajña and Māgha-Prayāga against each other, and Māgha-Prayāga outweighed them all. Within Māgha-Prayāga, Māgha alone is higher still (Chapter 63).

Vāna-rāja and Bhadraka

The Uttarardha shows how Māgha snāna at Prayāga makes two very different lives equal.

Vāna-rāja was a king of Avantī. He performed the Rājasūya and Aśvamedha yajñas, gave mountains of dāna, was devoted to śrāddha, and ruled with fear of Parameśvara.

Bhadraka was a foolish brāhmaṇa, born in poor and low circumstances. He was ignorant and of poor conduct, shut out from all dharma, and busy with farm labour. His relatives deceived him. By some stroke of luck (daivāt) he came to Prayāga and bathed there for three days during Mahāmāgha.

By that one snāna alone Bhadraka became a brāhmaṇottama (best of brāhmaṇas) and left Prayāga cleansed. When both died, they reached Indra’s assembly with equal standing. They had equal tejas (radiance), form and strength, and equal celestial women, divine vehicles, ornaments, pārijāta garlands, dance and song. The Uttarardha asks: “After seeing this with one’s own eyes, how can anyone say that Māgha snāna at Prayāga is not equal to the Rājasūya?” (Chapter 63)

Four acts at four holy places

The Uttarardha names one act that must be done at each of four great kshetras.

1. Prayāga: muṇḍana (shaving the head).
2. Gayā: piṇḍadāna (offering rice balls to the ancestors).
3. Kurukshetra: dāna.
4. Kāśī: deha-tyāga (leaving the body in death).

The text says: “One who has done muṇḍana at Prayāga has no need of Gayā-piṇḍadāna, death at Kāśī, or Kurukshetra-dāna.” The muṇḍana at Prayāga carries the power of all four together. The rule is that shaving the head, without a particular cause of mourning, is not allowed at any tīrtha except the Gaṅgā. Even on the Gaṅgā, muṇḍana done anywhere outside Prayāga leads to the mahā-raurava naraka (Chapter 62).

The five-yojana maṇḍala

The Prayāga maṇḍala spreads five yojanas in every direction. Every step taken within it gives the puṇya of the Aśvamedha. Three agni-kuṇḍas are here, and the Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) flows between them. Thirty crore and ten thousand tīrthas are always present at Prayāga.

Among the named holy stations are Kambala and Aśvatara (nāga tīrthas on the south bank of the Yamunā), Bhogavatī, Vedhā, Vedha, and the Prajāpati tīrthas. The Vedas and yajñas take bodily form and stand at Prayāga together with all the ṛshis (Chapter 63).

Death at Prayāga

The Uttarardha names the phala of dying at particular holy points within Prayāga.

• Vaṭa-mūla (the root of the Akshaya-vaṭa): one who dies here passes beyond all lokas and reaches Rudra-loka. The twelve Ādityas, who have drawn back from the world, are burned in the holy fire here. Śrī Hari himself rests on the Vaṭa leaf in the form of the infant Yogaśāyin, sucking his toes.
• Ūrvaśī-pulina (the white sandbank): one who dies here spends 66,000 years with the pitṛs in svarga. He is honoured by devas, ṛshis and gandharvas, and returns to earth as a man of great wealth and dharma.
• Koṭi-tīrtha: one who dies here spends 1,000 crore years in svarga and returns in a noble family with plenty of wealth.
• Death by anaśana-vrata (a fast unto death) in the five-yojana maṇḍala: this lifts up seven past generations and fourteen future generations.

The text says: “From any place, whether the forest, a foreign land or one’s own home, one who only thinks of Prayāga at the moment of death and gives up the prāṇas (life breaths) there reaches the Brahmaloka whose ground is golden (hiraṇmaya-bhū-prānta).” (Chapter 63)

Dāna at Prayāga

The Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama at Prayāga is also the best kshetra for certain dānas.

• Go-dāna (gift of a cow): a pātala-coloured or kapilā cow with golden horns and silver hooves, wearing an ornamental neck thread and with her calf, is given to a learned brāhmaṇa (śrotriya). The fruit is counted by the number of romakūpas (pores) on the cow: that many thousands of years in svarga. The giver never sees naraka and enjoys Uttarakuru.
• Kanyā-dāna: given between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā, it means the giver never sees naraka and enjoys Uttarakuru for ever.
• Ṛṇamocana tīrtha (south of Prayāga, north of the Yamunā): one who bathes here and stays one night is freed from all ṛṇa (debt) and reaches svarga (Chapter 63).

The Padma Purāṇa on Prayāga

Swarga Khaṇḍa

The Swarga Khaṇḍa of the Padma Purāṇa (Chapters 40–49) gives the Prayāga māhātmya in the setting of Mārkaṇḍeya’s visit to the grieving Yudhishṭhira at Hastināpura after the Mahābhārata war.

Mārkaṇḍeya and Yudhishṭhira

After the Kurukshetra war, Yudhishṭhira sat at Hastināpura overwhelmed by grief. He mourned the deaths of Droṇa, Bhīshma, Karṇa, his brothers’ sons and the whole Kaurava host. “What use is this kingdom, won through such slaughter?” he cried, and fell into silent despair.

Mārkaṇḍeya was then living at Vārāṇasī. He heard of Yudhishṭhira’s grief and in a short time reached the palace gate. The door-keepers told Yudhishṭhira at once. He ran forward with joy to receive the great muni. He honoured him with arghya and pādya (water offerings), seated him on a lion-throne, and with folded hands asked what he could do to be freed from the pāpa of the war.

Mārkaṇḍeya answered: “O Mahābāhu! Where there is dharma, there is no pāpa. For a kshatriya, battle is his own dharma. Do not think you have done pāpa.” Then he gave the remedy: “Sāṃkhya, Yoga and Tīrtha are the three paths spoken of for the removal of pāpa (pāpa-parihāra). Going to Prayāga is the first of these. The ṛshis have declared it the best for the pious.” In this way the whole Prayāga māhātmya is Mārkaṇḍeya’s gift of comfort to Yudhishṭhira (Chapters 40–41).

Extent and guardians

The Swarga Khaṇḍa fixes the holy boundary of Prayāga from the Dharmakī-hrada (lake) to the Vāsukī-hrada. The devas guard sixty thousand dhanus of the Gaṅgā. Sūrya guards the Yamunā for ever. Indra himself is the personal guardian of Prayāga. Vishṇu with all the devas guards the whole region. Maheśvara, with his śūla, guards the sacred Vaṭa tree. The text says: “Those who have not done dharma cannot even come here.” (Chapter 41)

Key teachings

The Swarga Khaṇḍa gives these fruits (Chapters 41–49).

• Only to remember Prayāga at the moment of death, whether at home, in the forest or in a foreign land, leads a person to Brahmaloka.
• In Māgha the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama draws sixty thousand six-hundred tīrthas into itself.
• Three days of Māgha snāna give the puṇya of giving ten thousand cows.
• Dying at the Vaṭa-mūla leads to Rudra-loka. At pralaya (the dissolution) all twelve Ādityas will consume the worlds, but they will not burn the Vaṭa. Vishṇu rests on the Vaṭa leaf as Yogaśāyin between kalpas.
• Pañcāgni tapas (austerity among five fires) at the saṅgama gives a stay in svarga as long as the number of romakūpas, and a return as ruler of Jambūdvīpa.
• Dīkshā-snāna at the saṅgama equals the rājasūya and aśvamedha.
• The saṅgama is called the jaghana of the earth and is the kshetra of Prajāpati (Brahmā).

Uttara Khaṇḍa: Prayāga becomes Tīrtharāja

The Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Purāṇa tells how Prayāga received its place as the Tīrtharāja, the king of all tīrthas.

The asura Śaṅkha, son of the Ocean, stole the Vedas from Satyaloka and hid them in the waters of the ocean. The devas were left without power. They went to the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu and woke him with song and music and with sixteen-fold pūjā, on the Ekādaśī of the bright fortnight of Āśvina. This is the origin of the Prabodhinī (Haribodhinī) festival.

Bhagavān Vishṇu took the form of a small fish. He entered the waters through the hands of Kaśyapa, grew until he filled the ocean, and killed Śaṅkha. The ṛshis then took the Vedas back from the waters.

All the devas, ṛshis, siddhas, serpents and yakshas gathered at Prayāga. They gave the recovered Vedas to Bhagavān Vishṇu and Brahmā. Brahmā, full of joy, performed a great aśvamedha yajña at Prayāga. At its end the devas bowed before Bhagavān Vishṇu and asked that Prayāga be made the first holy place on earth. Bhagavān Vishṇu then gave his blessing:

“O devas, I think the same. Let it be so. May this be famous as Brahma-kshetra. A king born in the solar dynasty will bring the Gaṅgā here, and she will join here with the Yamunā, the daughter of the Sun. All of you, Brahmā and the others, shall live here with me. This holy place will be known as Tīrtharāja.

“May the acts done here, which are gifts, tapas, vows, yajña, recitation of mantras and pūjā, give fruit that never runs out. May pāpas such as the killing of a brāhmaṇa, done over many births, perish at the very moment this holy place is seen. May the groups of dead ancestors of those who offer śrāddha here reach the same world as mine. What is gained in other holy places by ten years of tapas is gained here in a single day.”

After he had spoken, Bhagavān Vishṇu vanished at Prayāga together with Brahmā. The devas also stayed there in portions (Chapters 90–91 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa).

The Matsya Purāṇa on Prayāga

The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapters 101–110) gives the Prayāga māhātmya in the same frame as the other Purāṇas. Nandikeśvara tells Nārada what the ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya taught King Yudhishṭhira at Hastināpura after the Mahābhārata war.

Yudhishṭhira, overwhelmed by grief at the death of Duryodhana and all the warriors, had fallen into despair. Mārkaṇḍeya heard of it at Vārāṇasī, came quickly, received full honours, and comforted him. A kshatriya who fights in battle according to dharma takes on no pāpa. For those who seek release from pāpa, Prayāga-gamana (going to Prayāga) is the first remedy (Chapter 101).

Boundaries and guardians

The Prayāga kshetra is bounded by four places: Pratishṭhāna-nagara, Vāsuki-kuṇḍa, and the dwellings of the nāgas Kambala, Aśvatara and Bahumūlaka. Within these limits it is proclaimed the Prajāpati-kshetra in all three worlds.

Its guardians are named exactly.

• The devas watch over six thousand dhanus of the Gaṅgā.
• Sūrya, with his seven horses, guards the Yamunā for ever.
• Indra himself protects the whole Prayāga maṇḍala.
• Hari, with all the devas, guards the whole region.
• Maheśvara, with his śūla, protects the sacred Vaṭa tree.

Only those who have gathered some puṇya can come near. Those heavy with pāpa cannot enter. For those with only a small store of pāpa, even the smṛti (remembering) of Prayāga destroys it at once. Darśana (the sight of it) gives good fortune (śubha). Touching its mṛttikā cleans. Snāna, or drinking its water, frees seven generations (Chapter 102).

Tīrthas within Prayāga

The Matsya Purāṇa names these tīrthas within the kshetra.

• Kambala–Aśvatara nāga tīrtha (south bank of the Yamunā): snāna, or drinking its water, destroys all pāpa and cleans ten earlier and ten later generations. Near it is a Śiva-kshetra from which the same freeing of ten generations follows.
• Haṃsa-prapātana tīrtha (north of Pratishṭhāna, left bank of the Gaṅgā): snāna gives the phala of the Aśvamedha, and svarga for as long as the moon and sun last.
• Ūrvaśī-pulina (the white sandy bank): one who dies here lives 66,000 years in Ravi-loka with his pitṛs, then returns to earth as a ruler of great wealth, with daughters who rival Ūrvaśī.
• Saṃdhyā-vaṭa: a place of brahmacarya and tapas that gives Brahmaloka to those who keep purity (śauca) and control of the senses (indriya-nigraha).
• Koṭi-tīrtha: one who dies here gets one thousand crore years of svarga, and returns in a rich family of noble line.
• Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa (north of Vāsuki): snāna gives the phala of the Aśvamedha. After svarga the person is born rich, handsome, able and dharmic.
• Sāmudra-kūpa (east of the Gaṅgā, within Pratishṭhāna): three nights of brahmacarya and snāna give the phala of the Aśvamedha.
• Ṛṇa-pramocana tīrtha (south of Prayāga, north of the Yamunā): one night of upavāsa (fasting) and snāna frees from all ṛṇa (debt) and gives Sūrya-loka. The devotee never falls into debt again.

(Chapters 104–105)

The Akshaya-vaṭa

The Akshaya-vaṭa holds a place of its own. The twelve Ādityas did their tapas at its root and so reached Rudra. At pralaya they will burn all the worlds, but they will not touch the Vaṭa. Even when the moon, the sun and the winds have ceased and the whole cosmos has become one ocean, Bhagavān Vishṇu rests at the root of the Vaṭa between kalpas.

Death at the Vaṭa-mūla leads beyond all lokas to Śiva-loka. Devas, dānavas, gandharvas, ṛshis, siddhas and cāraṇas all come there at all times to worship (Chapter 104).

The phala of Prayāga

The Matsya Purāṇa lists the phala of Prayāga on the same rising scale.

• The smṛti of Prayāga alone destroys any pāpa left over. Darśana brings śubha. Touching its mṛttikā cleans.
• Snāna at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama on Makara-saṅkrānti gives the phala of the Rājasūya and the Aśvamedha.
• In Māgha, 66,000 tīrthas join the saṅgama. The puṇya is equal to giving one lakh cows.
• Pañcāgni tapas between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā gives a life free of disease. At death the person gets as many years of svarga as the number of his romas, and returns as Jambūdvīpādhipati (lord of Jambūdvīpa).
• Jala-praveśa (entering the water fully) at the saṅgama frees a person as the moon is freed from Rāhu’s eclipse, and gives Soma-loka for 66,000 years.
• A month’s stay at Prayāga in brahmacarya, with daily snāna and tarpaṇa (water offerings) to the devas and pitṛs, fulfils every wish in every later birth.
• Staying a month on alms (bhikshā), bathing three times a day, with control of the senses, destroys even pāpa done by accident and gives the phala of tīrtha-yātrā.
• The Prayāga maṇḍala is five yojanas. Each step within it gives the phala of the Aśvamedha. Seven past and seven future generations are freed.
• Death at Prayāga leads to Rudra-loka. Dying at the Vaṭa-mūla leads beyond all lokas to Śiva-loka.
• To remember Prayāga at the moment of death, from any place, whether forest, foreign land or home, leads the prāṇas to Brahmaloka.

(Chapters 102–106)

Dāna at Prayāga

The Matsya Purāṇa is plain: kanyādāna done between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā by the ārsha rite means the giver never sees naraka and enjoys Uttarakuru for ever.

A kapilā cow with gold horns, silver hooves and a bronze milking vessel, given to a learned brāhmaṇa (śrotriya) at Prayāga, gives svarga for thousands of years, as many as the cow has romas. The giver and the cow are born again together, and the giver never sees naraka. A single milch cow (pāḍī) given at Prayāga outweighs thousands of ordinary cow-gifts and frees the giver’s whole family across generations (Chapter 103).

The place of Prayāga in the cosmos

Prayāga does not perish even at pralaya. Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva take other forms there, present as the Vaṭa itself, to free those who serve the tīrtha, again and again. The land between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā is proclaimed the pṛthivī-jaghana (“the loins of the earth”) in all three worlds.

Three agni-kuṇḍas flank the Gaṅgā at Prayāga, and the Gaṅgā flows between them. Thirty crore and ten thousand tīrthas are always present here. The joint puṇya of all the three and a half crore tīrthas of the three worlds does not equal even one sixteenth of the tīrtha of Prayāga. The Vedas and yajñas take bodily form and honour Prajāpati here. The Śesha-talpa (couch of Śesha) of Bhagavān Vishṇu rests here between kalpas (Chapters 108–109).

How the teaching ends

Following Mārkaṇḍeya’s instruction, Yudhishṭhira went to Prayāga with his brothers and Draupadī. He bathed at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā saṅgama, did his daily rites (nitya-anushṭhāna), and gave tarpaṇa to brāhmaṇas, devas and pitṛs.

Bhagavān Vāsudeva came there at once and himself sprinkled Yudhishṭhira with holy water (abhisheka). Mārkaṇḍeya gave his blessing (svasti) and went back to his āśrama. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa told Yudhishṭhira to go on doing deva-yajana and homas at Prayāga every day.

Mārkaṇḍeya’s last counsel was that tīrtha-yātrā is better than all yajñas, because even the poor can do it. They cannot pay for the many things a yāga needs, yet through tīrtha-sevā (service of tīrthas) they gain the same fruit and even more. Nandikeśvara ended the teaching, and Nārada set out for Prayāga (Chapter 110).

Prayāga in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

Rāma at Bharadvāja’s āśrama

The Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells of two visits to Prayāga, one by Rāma and one by Bharata.

Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa crossed the Gaṅgā after leaving Śṛṅgaverapura. They went south to the Yamunā confluence and came to the āśrama of Bharadvāja Maharshi at the Triveṇī saṅgama. Bharadvāja welcomed them warmly. He received Rāma as a son and as dharma itself, and gave them a place for the night.

Rāma asked where they could live through the fourteen years of their forest life. Bharadvāja thought, and sent them to Citrakūṭa. It is a beautiful hill with the river Mandākinī, with forests and flowers and many hermitages (āśramas) of ṛshis. He said it was well suited to Rāma’s purpose. The great ṛshi also blessed the three before they left (Chapters 54–55).

As they crossed the Yamunā, Sītā prayed to her. She vowed to offer pūjā when Rāma’s exile was over and they came back to Ayodhyā in victory (Chapter 55).

Bharata’s visit and the divine feast

Bharata came to Prayāga with the whole royal army, looking for Rāma. He too reached Bharadvāja’s āśrama at the Triveṇī saṅgama. Bharadvāja knew that Bharata was innocent in the trouble that had come and that he wished to find Rāma and bring him back. He welcomed the army. As a supreme act of ātithya-dharma (the duty of hospitality), he called up a divine feast for the whole army through the power of his tapas.

Devas, gandharvas and apsarases served the gathered forces with every kind of food, drink and entertainment. This feast at Prayāga is the Rāmāyaṇa’s greatest example of a ṛshi’s hospitality, the power of stored tapas shown in welcome. After the feast Bharadvāja sent Bharata on to Citrakūṭa and told him the way (Chapters 82–89).

Sources

• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 109–116
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 36–39
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 34
• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 101–110
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 6–7
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 62–63
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Swarga Khaṇḍa, Chapters 40–49
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 90–91
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 53–55, 82–89