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742 Pilgrimage All religions laid great emphasis on the sacredness of certain localities and enjoin pilgrimages to them. It is considered to be one of the dharmas to be practised by man in his life.119 To gaze upon the scenes amid which the deity has dwelt, to bathe in the rivers that once loved his mystical incarnate frame, to halt at noonday under hoary trees beneath which the divine presence has reposed, to pray upon the mountain hallowed by his lonely communings, and to behold in the everlasting rock the foot prints of god, are longings which have, at one period or another, filled the imagination and stirred the innermost heart of all noble races. The grandeur and subli鉂� mity of snow-capped mountains, of large life-sustaining rivers and of great forests easily impress the minds of almost all people and induce them to think that the supreme being is partially revealed in such surroundings 121 120 In the Rgveda, the rivers are considered as holy and are deified but pilgrimage in its modern sense 119 Visnu Dharma Sutra II. 16-17. 120 Hunter, Orissa, Vol. I, P.136. 121 Kane P.V., Hist. of Dh.S. Vol. IV, P. 561.

743 is not referred to, and even in the Brahmanas while a particular sanctity attaches to river fords and certain privileged regions, like the banks of Saraswati, there is no knowledge either of pilgrimages or holy places. 122 The germ of the idea of pilgrimage is found in the words of Indra to Hariscandra, "There is no happiness for him who does not travel; living in the society of men, the best man often becomes a sinner, for Indra is the friend of traveller, therefore, wander "123 In the sutras and ancient smrtis like those of Manu 124 and Yajnavalkya, tirthas do not occupy a very prominent position. Gautama 125 however declares that "all mountains, all rivers, holy lakes, places of pilgrimage, the dwelling of Rsis, cow-pens, and temples of gods are the places which destroy sin." In the Mahabharata and the puranas, they are highly landed. The origin of the modern practice may be traced to the revival of Brahmanism and its absorption of local cults. Every place where a local spirit was propitiated or worshipped soon came under the control of a body of local priests, interested in attracting 122 A. Barth, Religions of India. 123 Aitereya Brahmana vii.15. 124 vili. 92. 125 XIX. 14 (SBE ii (1879) 276).

visitors because their offerings formed their means of livelihood. 126 744 Literature on tirthas is very extensive. The Brahma purana devotes about 6,700 verses, i.e.nearly half of its total extent of 13783 verses to tirthas. The Brahma purana lays the greatest emphasis on the cultivation of high moral and spiritual qualities if the full reward of pilgrimages is to be reaped. It says, 'He whose hands, feet and mind are well controlled and who possesses know, ledge, austerities and a good reputation derives the full reward of pilgrimages" 127 Further, it states, "A Heart that is wicked is not purified by baths at holy places, just as a vessel in which liquor was carried remains impure even after being washed with water hundreds of times, that tirthas, gifts, vratas or residence in hermitages do not purify a man whose heart is wicked, who resorts to hypocrisy and whose senses run away. Wherever a man who has his senses under control may dwell, there are present Kuruksetra, Prayaga and Puskara". (25.4-6). Since ancient times numberless tirthas have been 126 ERE., Vol. 8, P. 24-26. - 127 25.2; Vanaparva 92.11, 93.20-23, Vayu 110.4-5, Sankhasmrti 8.15, Agni 109.1-2, Skanda I.2.2.5-6.

745 mentioned. The Brahma purana says that the number of tirthas and shrines is so large that they cannot be enumerated in detail even in hundreds of years (175.83, 25.7-8). The Brahma purana classifies the tirthas into four divisions, viz. daiva (created by gods), asura (those associated 2. with such Asuras as Gaya), arsa (those established by sages) such as prabhasa and Narayana and Manusa (created by kings like Ambarisa, Manu and Kuru), and provides that each preceding one is superior to each succeeding one. It enumerates six rivers to the south of the Vindhya and six rivers having their source in the Himalayas as most holy and as devatirthas, viz. Godavari, Bhimarathi, Tungabhadras, Venika, Tapi, Payosni, Bhagirathi, Narmada, Yamuna, Saraswati, Visoka and Vitasta. Similarly, the tirthas surrounded by Gaya, Kolla, Vrtra, Tripura, Andhaka, Hayamurdha, Lavana, Namuci, Srngaka, Yama, Patalaketu, Maya and Puskara are the Asuratirthas. The tirthas associated with the sages Prabhasa, Bhargava, Agasti, Nara, Narayana, Vasistha, Bharadvaja, Gautama, Kasyapa, Hanu etc. are called the Rsitirthas and the tirthas constructed by kings like Ambarisa, Hariscandra, Mandhata, Manu, Kuru, Kanakhala, Bhadrasva, Sagara, Asvayupa, Naciketa, and Vrsakapi are called the Manusatirthas. 128 Elsewhere the Brahma purana 128 70. 16-19, 33-40.

746 assigns daiva, asura, arsa and manusa tirthas respectively $ to the Krta, Ereta, vapara and kaliyugas. hmd The digests quote certain verses of the Brahma purana about the rites to be performed when a person decides to start on a pilgrimage but they are not found in the Brahma-purana available at present. The Brahma purana provides Nandimukha sraddha, purification of body, dinner to brahmins, remaining celebate and not talking with patita people when one is on a pilgrimage to Godavari (76.18-19). The Brahma-purana deals extensively with the Purusottamatirtha. It devotes about 1600 verses to this tirtha. As regards the anecdote related to this tirtha, see the section 'worship/' of this chapter. At present the sacred enclosure of Jagannatha includes 120 temples containing various forms of god, is being temples of siva, some more of Parvati and a temple of the Sun. Almost every faith of Hindu faith is represented here and the Brahma purana also expresses the tolerant view that all the wranglings between saivas and devotees of Visnu should be forbidden and that siva and Visnu are really speaking one and the same (56.64-66, 69-70). The Brahma-purana further states that those who give up their body in Purusottamaksetra

747 Further the Brahma-purana states that the Purusottamaksetra is the greatest and the highest tirtha. In the Purusottamaksetra, there are five important tirthas, viz.the pool of Markandeya, the vata tree, Balarama, the sea and the Indradyumna pool and it describes them at length (60.11). The name of Jagannatha still draws the faithful devotees 129 from hundred provinces of India. One who goes for the Gudiva yatra which lasts for one week, which is held on the bank of the Indradyumna stream and where lord Krsna, Balarama and Subhadra are worshipped, gets all the desired objects and attains liberation (A.66). It appears that Gudiva is the summer house of Jagannatha about two miles from the great temple. The word is probably derived from Gundi, which means a thick log of wood in Bengali and Mriya and has reference to the legend of a log of wood, that king 130 Indradyumna found floating in the sea. The Brahma-purana highly eulogises all the tirthas situated on the bank of the river Godavari. Once it is said that the ocean is the best among all the tirthas (62.16-21). Some of the tirthas take their names after some incidents. The Brahma purana states that the place where lord Tryambaka manifested himself before the sage 129 Hunter, Orissa, Vol. 1, P.137. 130 Kane R.V., HDS., HDS., Vol. IV, P.701.

748 Gautama is called Tryambaka-tirtha (79.6). The place where Sakra obtained the MrtasamjIvanIvidya from lord Mahadeva, the place is called Sakratirtha (95.31). The place where the gods became free from sins is called the Papapranasanatirtha (110.215). The place where the cows are purified is called Gotirtha (110.216). The place where Indra befriended the Maruts is called Mitratirtha and where he regained his Laksmi is called Kamalatirtha (124.137-139). The Brahma-purana states that one who goes for the pilgrimage of the Bindusaras on the eighth day of the dark half of the month Margasirsa in the Visuva Yoga with restrained senses and offers tarpana of sesame and water by reciting the names and gotras in honour of gods, sages, men end pitrs gets the merit of performing Asvanedha. The dana given to Brahmins at Bindusaras on the days of grahana, visuvayoga, samkranti, ayanarambha and eighty six yugadi tithis entails hundredfold merits (41.55,66). The Brahma-purana specifies some holy pilgrimages going for which one attains special rewards. Thus one who goes for a pilgrimage known as Damanmanjika in the honour of lord Konaditya in the bright half of the month Caitra gets liberation. One who goes in for this pilgrimage at the

749 time of the rising and setting of the Sun, on the day of Samkranti, in the visuva yoga, at the beginning of uttarayana and daksinayana, on Sunday, on the 7th day or on some auspicious day, goes to the world of Sun in a bright aeroplane (28.53-56).