Pushkara is the sacred lake of Bhagavān Brahmā, in the western part of Bhārata. The Agni Purāṇa declares it the foremost of all tīrthas (places of pilgrimage): the first, and the crest-jewel of the whole universe of sacred places. At all three sandhyās (the junctions of the day), Bhagavān Brahmā lives at Pushkara together with all the devas.

Siddhas, munis and devas have bathed here and gained siddhi (spiritual attainment). Worship of the devas and the pitṛ devas (the ancestors) at Pushkara gives the puṇya (merit) of an Aśvamedha yajña and leads straight to Brahmaloka. One who lives at Pushkara and does japa and śrāddha there lifts one hundred generations of his family.

Pushkara as the supreme tīrtha

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 109) begins its list of tīrthas with Pushkara. It says that the puṇya of tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage) equals the puṇya of yajñas: what yajñas bring, pilgrimage brings. Pushkara is the śesha, the crown that stands above all the rest.

At all three sandhyās (morning, midday and evening), Bhagavān Brahmā himself is present at Pushkara with all the devas.

The presence of Bhagavān Brahmā

Pushkara is the lake of Bhagavān Brahmā. He is the Creator who is seldom worshipped at other tīrthas, but at Pushkara he has made his home for ever. The three sandhyā times here are made holy by the direct presence of Bhagavān Brahmā and all the devas. Seekers of desires (kāmins), munis and devas have all bathed at Pushkara and gained siddhi.

Rites and their merit in the Agni Purāṇa

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 109) names these acts and their fruits at Pushkara:

Worship of the devas and the pitṛ devas: gives the fruit of an Aśvamedha yajña and Brahmaloka.
Anna-dāna (gift of food) on Kārtika-pūrṇimā: with a pure and steady mind (guptacitta), one reaches Brahmaloka.
Tapas at Pushkara: very hard to perform, but very fruitful.
Dāna at Pushkara: even the chance to give dāna here is a rare blessing.
Living at Pushkara: the hardest of all attainments. Those who are fortunate enough to live here are supremely blessed.

Japa and śrāddha

One who lives at Pushkara and does japa and śrāddha there lifts one hundred generations of his vaṃśa (family line). The purity gained by any of these acts at Pushkara is declared far greater than the same acts elsewhere. The reason given is that Bhagavān Brahmā is present at all three sandhyās, so Pushkara is a field of unbroken and undiminished divine śakti (power).

Tīrthas near Pushkara

The Agni Purāṇa names two tīrthas near Pushkara: Jambū-mārga and Taṇḍulikāśrama. Also near are Kaṇvāśrama, Koṭi-tīrtha, Varṇadā (Narmadā) and Ārbuda. All are called uttama (best) tīrthas. Together they form a great pilgrim region in the west of Bhārata.

Why Pushkara is hard to reach

The Agni Purāṇa says that to be able to go to Pushkara, to do tapas there and to give dāna there is itself very hard (bāla-kashṭa). The good fortune of living at Pushkara is called ati-dushkara (exceedingly hard), and it takes the puṇya of many lives. The text counts this very difficulty as a sign of Pushkara’s holiness: what is hardest to reach is highest.

Pushkara in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

The Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa names Pushkara as the place of three events.

The Purāṇa is handed down. Bhagavān Brahmā taught the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa to Dharma at Pushkara-tīrtha. So this is the place where the Purāṇa first passed from Bhagavān Brahmā into the line of teachers.
The tapas of the gandharva king. In Chapter 12, a gandharva king (the earlier birth of Nārada, also called Upabarhaṇa) did tapas at Pushkara for one hundred divine years. At the end, Bhagavān Śiva appeared and gave him two varas (boons): devotion to Hari (Hari-bhakti) and a son who would be a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Ghṛtācī and Viśvakarmā. Chapter 10 tells how the apsarā Ghṛtācī and Viśvakarmā met at Pushkara-tīrtha. They cursed each other (śāpa), and from this came the nine artisan communities.

Pushkara in the Nārada Purāṇa

The Uttarardha of the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 71), in the dialogue of Vasu and Mohinī, calls Pushkara the ādi-tīrtha: the first and original tīrtha of all. It is most holy, it destroys pāpa (sin), and it is the yajña-bhūmi (ground of the yajña) of Bhagavān Brahmā himself. The devas who live in this kshetra for ever are headed by Bhagavān Vishṇu, and include Gaṇapati, Kumāra-svāmi, Raivata, Divākara and the fierce Śivadūtī Devī. Śivadūtī Devī guards the welfare of the kshetra.

The three Pushkaras

The tīrtha has three sacred lakes: Jyeshṭha (the elder), Madhyama (the middle) and Kanishṭha (the younger). Each has its own saṃgama (meeting of waters) and its own gift (dāna).

Pushkara	Gift to give	Fruit (phala)
Jyeshṭha	A milk-giving cow, given to a brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda	Brahmaloka that never ends
Madhyama	Bhū-dāna (a gift of land) to a brāhmaṇa	Vishṇuloka, reached in a supreme vimāna
Kanishṭha	Kāñcana-dāna (gold) to a brāhmaṇa	All desires in this life; Rudraloka after

One bath (snāna) in the Jyeshṭha-kuṇḍa gives the phala of a bath in every tīrtha in the universe.

Living at Pushkara in the month of Jyeshṭha

To live in the Pushkara forest (Pushkarāraṇya) in the month of Jyeshṭha gives the puṇya of ashṭāṅga-yoga, the full fruit of the eight-limbed yoga. There is no better kshetra anywhere on earth. A brāhmaṇa, a kshatriya, a vaiśya or a śūdra who lives here as a kshetra-vāsin (dweller in the kshetra) becomes a devotee of Bhagavān Brahmā, a blessing to all beings and a yogī, and at last reaches Brahmaloka.

The Prācī Sarasvatī and her six tīrthas

In the Pushkara forest flows the Prācī Sarasvatī. Six tīrthas lie on her bank: Mati, Smṛti, Dayā, Prajñā, Medhā and Buddhi. One who stands on the bank and sees all six in turn gains the fruit of an Aśvamedha yajña and reaches svarga. The Sarasvatī is here called the very cause (hetu) of dharma. Every snāna, dāna, japa and śrāddha done on her bank at Pushkara gives fruit that never ends.

Āśramas and tīrthas in Pushkarāraṇya

Within the Pushkara region lie these holy places:

Koṭi-tīrtha (home of a host of ṛshis): a bath and honouring of brāhmaṇas free one from every pātaka (great pāpa).
Agastya Āśrama: worship of Agastya Maharshi here gives long life, enjoyment and svarga.
Saptarshi Āśrama: a bath and devoted worship of the seven ṛshis give Saptarshi-loka.
Manu Āśrama: a bath brings respect from all.
Gaṅgā-vinirgama (the point where the Gaṅgā comes out here): a bath and the gift of a cow to a brāhmaṇa give every worldly joy, and then Brahmaloka.
Vishṇu-pada-tīrtha: a bath and any dāna give all desires, by the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Nāga-tīrtha: a bath, worship of the nāgas and dāna give the joy of svarga for one kalpa.
Piśāca-tīrtha: a bath and feeding a brāhmaṇa free one from the state of a piśāca and give svarga.
Śivadūtī-tīrtha: a bath, worship of Bhagavān Śiva and feeding brāhmaṇas give svarga.
Ākāśa-Pushkara: a bath gives moksha. One who bathes while saying the “Āpo hishṭhā” mantras and thinking of Ākāśastha (the One who stands in the sky) reaches the eternal state (śāśvata-pada).

Kārtika Pūrṇimā, the great day

The Nārada Purāṇa names the exact times that multiply the phala of a bath at Pushkara.

Kārtika-pūrṇimā with Kṛttikā-nakshatra is the Mahātithi (the great day). A bath in Ākāśa-Pushkara then gives special fruit.
Kārtika-pūrṇimā with Bharaṇī-nakshatra: a bath in the Madhyama Pushkariṇī gives the same phala as Ākāśa-Pushkara.
Kārtika-pūrṇimā with Rohiṇī-nakshatra: a bath in the Kanishṭha lake gives the same phala as Ākāśa-Pushkara.
Sūrya-Guru-yoga (Sun and Jupiter together), Candra-Śani-yoga or Kuja-Candra-yoga: a bath in Ākāśa-Pushkara gives all fruits.
Viśākhā-nakshatra with the Sun and Kṛttikā-nakshatra with the Moon: a bath in Ākāśa-Pushkariṇī gives svarga.

This Ākāśa-Pushkara is said to have come down from the sky. A bath in this Brahma-Pushkariṇī opens the eternal lokas.

The power of the name

The Nārada Purāṇa repeats what earlier Purāṇas say: even to speak the name “Pushkara” gives the full phala of a Pushkara bath. Even those who live a hundred yojanas away receive the phala of the bath if they remember Pushkara at bath time. Perfected ascetics such as Maṅkaṇa gladly come to Pushkara. Those who have bathed at Pushkara get all they desire wherever they go in the world. Even to hear this Māhātmya gives the listener the fruit of a Pushkara bath and the joy of the devas in svarga.

Pushkara in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa

The Madhyama Bhāga of the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Chapters 5 and 34–36) speaks of Pushkara in the account of Paraśurāma.

The birth of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Chapter 5 says that Hiraṇyakaśipu, the great daitya king whom Bhagavān Narasiṃha later slew, was born at Pushkara. It happened during the Aśvamedha yajña of his father Kaśyapa.

Paraśurāma’s hundred years of sādhanā. Paraśurāma received the Trailokya-vijaya kavaca (armour-mantra) from Bhagavān Śiva. He then went to Pushkara and did sādhanā at this holy lake for a hundred years. In that time he met a mṛga and mṛgī (a deer and a doe). They were a brāhmaṇa couple from the Draviḍa country, born again in animal form because their minds clung to the thought of their end (antya-citta). Paraśurāma received the teaching on the three kinds of bhakti, and at last went on to Agastya’s āśrama at Pushkara.

Agastya’s āśrama and the Sarasvatī that can be seen. The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa describes Agastya’s āśrama at Pushkara in detail. It says that the holy river Sarasvatī is visible at Pushkara to those with spiritual sight. She fills the fire-pits (agni-kuṇḍas) of the āśramas along the lake shore. In this āśrama Agastya told Paraśurāma the Kṛshṇāmṛta-stava, the stotra of 108 names of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

The freeing of the deer and doe. The forest of Pushkara was the home of the mṛga and mṛgī. They reached Vaikuṇṭha through the grace of Paraśurāma’s compassion, the power of the Kṛshṇāmṛta-stava and the holiness of Pushkara-tīrtha. So Pushkara is a place where moksha is open even to beings born as animals.

Pushkara in the Padma Purāṇa

The Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa gives the fullest account of Pushkara in any Purāṇa. It gives several chapters to the origin of the tīrtha, the events that made it holy, its sub-tīrthas and the Māhātmya of its parts.

The great yajña of Bhagavān Brahmā (Chapters 16–17)

The Padma Purāṇa says Pushkara is the place of the first great yajña of Bhagavān Brahmā. He performed it for the welfare of devas and human beings at the start of the Kṛta Yuga. Pushkara was chosen because the great lotus (pushkara) fell here from the lotus of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s navel at the start of creation, and from that lotus Bhagavān Brahmā was born. So it is the holiest place in the universe, and the only place fit for such a yajña.

The yajña lasted a thousand divine years. All the devas, ṛshis and dānavas took part, and every being in creation. Bhagavān Vishṇu was sarvādhikārī (the overall chief). Indra was dvārādhyaksha (keeper of the gate), Kubera gave the wealth (dhana-prada), Vāyu brought the fragrance, and Sūrya gave the light. (Chapter 16)

This yajña is also the place of the well-known meeting of Sāvitrī and Gāyatrī Devī, the Śiva-kapāla event, and the declaration of the supreme power of the Gāyatrī mantra. After her five śāpas (curses), Sāvitrī went to Jyeshṭha Pushkara, the elder of the three Pushkaras, and lived there from then on. (Chapter 17)

The five streams of the Sarasvatī at Pushkara (Chapter 18)

At Pushkara the Sarasvatī flows in five holy streams:

Suprabhā: the main flow.
Kāñcanā: the golden stream.
Prācī: the stream that flows east. It is held especially holy for tapas, japa and śrāddha.
Nandā: named after the cow Nandā; a branch that flows south.
Viśālakā: the broad stream.

On the Prācī Sarasvatī the assembled ṛshis held the sat-yajña of Bhagavān Brahmā. Many kinds of ascetics practise austerity (tapas) on her banks: vāyubhakshas (who live on air), jalāhāras (who live on water), dantolūkhalas (who use their teeth as a mortar) and aśmakuṭṭas (who grind with stones). On the Prācī bank is the tīrtha of Mukha-darśana. There ascetic ṛshis bathed in the pond and at once gained beautiful forms. The ṛshis named this tīrtha and gave it the rank of tīrtha-rāja (king of tīrthas), Jyeshṭha Pushkara.

Rudra’s lasting presence on the Prācī Sarasvatī: the Maṅkaṇaka account (Chapter 18)

On the bank of the Prācī Sarasvatī the ṛshi Maṅkaṇaka pricked his hand on the tip of a kuśa blade. He saw the juice of vegetables (śāka-rasa) flow out instead of blood. Joyful at this sign of the change wrought by his tapas, he began to dance. By the power of his tejas (radiance) all moving and unmoving creation danced with him.

Bhagavān Brahmā sent Bhagavān Rudra to stop him. Bhagavān Rudra came and struck his own thumb, and bhasma (sacred ash) flowed out instead of blood. Maṅkaṇaka was humbled at once. He praised Bhagavān Rudra as the base of all creation. Bhagavān Rudra gave him a vara: “Your tapas will grow a thousand times. And I will always live here, on this bank of the Prācī Sarasvatī, for ever, with you.” By this vara the Prācī Sarasvatī became a śiva-śakti tīrtha, where Bhagavān Rudra is ever present (sānnidya).

The Nandā river and the truthfulness of the cow (Chapter 18)

The Nandā stream of the Sarasvatī at Pushkara got its name from an act of truthfulness (satya-vrata). A cow named Nandā, from the herd of the cowherd Nanda, wandered into the forest near Pushkara. A tiger met her. The tiger was in truth King Prabhañjana, who had been cursed (śāpa) to take an animal form by a deer he had killed.

Nandā had gone to nurse her calf. Though all begged her not to, she came back to the tiger, as she had promised. Her steady truthfulness broke the curse. When she spoke the name of her owner Nanda, Prabhañjana was restored at once. Dharma himself appeared and gave Nandā a vara. She chose that the tīrtha be made holy, and that the Sarasvatī stream here be named after her. Nandā went up to the highest loka with her calf. Ever since, the southern branch of the Sarasvatī at Pushkara has been called the Nandā river.

The Prācī Sarasvatī and the Baḍavāgni (Chapter 18)

The Prācī Sarasvatī also carries the account of Sarasvatī being asked by Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Brahmā to carry the Baḍavāgni (the fire under the ocean) to the sea. As a kanyā (unmarried girl), Sarasvatī said she was not free to decide: she needed her father’s leave. Bhagavān Brahmā gave leave and sent her east with the Baḍavāgni. As she left, the Gaṅgā promised to meet her when she came back from the east. Sarasvatī became the Prācī at the east, and she has faced east ever since.

The Saptarshi Āśrama (Chapter 19)

Chapter 19 describes the Saptarshi Āśrama in great detail. Great ṛshis came to Pushkara and lived at this āśrama, bound by yama and niyama (the rules of restraint and observance). They include Atri, Vasishṭha, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Aṅgiras, Gautama, Viśvāmitra, Bhṛgu, Cyavana, Kaśyapa, Durvāsa, Jamadagni, Mārkaṇḍeya, Gālava, Śuka, Bharadvāja, Nārada, Parvata, Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana and many others.

The text says plainly who may enter and who may not. Only those free from theft, deceit, ruling desires of the senses, cruelty, greed, ingratitude and pride may come: the truthful (satyavants), the radiant (tejasins), the brave (śūras), the kind (dayāvants), those who perform yajñas (yajvins) and those without selfish desire (nishkāmas). Disease, old age and early death do not come there. Those who meditate in samādhi there reach Brahmaloka.

The Agastya Āśrama (Chapter 19)

The Agastya Āśrama at Pushkara began when the devas came to Agastya Maharshi. They asked him to drink the ocean so that they could destroy the Kālakeya asuras, who were hiding in it. For the good of all worlds, Agastya drank the whole ocean in one sip. After the Kālakeyas were destroyed, the ocean stayed empty until Bhagīratha’s Gaṅgā later filled it again.

Bhagavān Brahmā, grateful, blessed Agastya’s āśrama: “Your āśrama will be the first among all āśramas. One who bathes in the kuṇḍas here after a Pushkara yātrā completes the fruits of deva-tarpaṇa, pitṛ-tarpaṇa and all yajñas. Śrāddha done here satisfies the pitṛs until pralaya (the great dissolution). To feed a single muni here with fruit and roots gives joy that never ends. A bath here equals the phala of an aśvamedha. No one who bathes here will be born in a low family again.”

The Māhātmya of Pushkara (Chapter 19)

All of Chapter 19 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa is given to the Māhātmya of Pushkara-tīrtha. Pulastya tells it to Bhīshma. Its main declarations are:

Pushkara is ten crore times better than all other tīrthas (daśa-koṭi-tīrtha-sama).
At all three sandhyās, the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Sādhyas, Maruts, Gandharvas and Apsarases are present.
Bhagavān Brahmā is ever present at this tīrtha.
To bathe here and to honour the pitṛs gives ten times the phala of an aśvamedha.
To feed one brāhmaṇa here equals worshipping a crore of devas.
To come to Pushkara on Caitra Śukla Caturdaśī, bathe, and do abhisheka for the pitṛs gives the phala of a go-medha yajña.
Devas and pitṛs pleased by a bath here reach Vishṇuloka and Brahmaloka.
The Sarasvatī herself went east and comes back to Pushkara from the north, so the Sarasvatī that flows here is wholly holy.

Pushkara in the Bhavishya Parva: the war with Haṃsa and Dimbhaka

The Bhavishya Parva of the Harivaṃśa names Pushkara as a great battlefield in the war between the daitya brothers Haṃsa and Dimbhaka and the Yādavas of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Haṃsa demanded tribute from Dvārakā, and it was not given. He then gathered a huge daitya army and marched against the Yādavas. The first part of the battle was fought at Pushkara itself, the supreme tīrtha of Bhagavān Brahmā, and it lasted a full day.

The war lasted two days. The first day’s fighting was at Pushkara and the second day’s was at Govardhana. It ended when Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself slew Haṃsa in the Kāliya-hrada.

Sources

Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 109
Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 10, 12
Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 71
Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 5, 34–36
Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 14–19
Harivaṃśa, Bhavishya Parva, Chapters 110–130