Pravara (Tīrtha)
Pravara, “the excellent”
Pravara is a holy tīrtha named in the Brahma Purāṇa’s great list of the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth, in Chapter 25, the Sarva-tīrtha-māhātmya, “the glory of all the tīrthas”. The list names it twice: once as Pravara and once, near the end, as Pravara-tīrtha. The Purāṇa gives it by name only, with no word on where it lies or how it came by its name.
In the list of tīrthas
Asked by the brāhmaṇas how many holy tīrthas and kshetras there are on the earth, the teller, whom they address as the knower of dharma, first speaks of the inner tīrtha. One whose hands, feet and mind are under control, and who has jñāna (knowledge), tapas and a good name, gains the fruit of serving all the tīrthas. When the mind, speech and senses are pure, these are tīrthas within one’s own body, and they show the path to svarga (heaven). If the inner faculty is corrupt, no number of baths in tīrthas makes it pure, just as an impure toddy pot is not made pure though washed a hundred times. Tīrthas, dānas, vratas and āśramas cannot purify one of bad nature, a hypocrite, whose senses roam unchecked. Wherever a person lives with the senses restrained, that very place is for him Kurukshetra, Prayāga and Pushkara. Then the teller names the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth, more than four hundred of them, beginning with Pushkara. Pravara is named in the middle part of that list, after Sarasvatī and Īśāna, and before Pāvana and Pāñcayajñika. Near the end of the list Pravara-tīrtha is named again, after Vaṭa-tīrtha and Rohiṇī, and before Indradyumna and Nara-tīrtha. The list ends with the words “these are the tīrthas so named”.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 25
The rite and its phala
The chapter gives one rite for all the tīrthas of the list. One who serves these tīrthas with śraddhā (faith), performs the bath and the other prescribed acts, keeps the fast, is master of the senses, offers tarpaṇa (libations of water) to the devas, the ṛshis and the pitṛs, worships the devatās, and fasts there for three nights, gains distinct and endless fruits, and by them the fruit of the aśvamedha yajña. “There is no doubt,” the teller says.
The phalaśruti of the chapter: one who hears or reads this glory of the tīrthas every day is freed from every pāpa (sin).
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 25
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 25