Adhyaya 127

Chapter 127 proclaims the extraordinary merit of Māgha-snāna when the Sun is in Makara (Capricorn). It teaches that water is inherently purifying and that Māgha is supreme for sacred observances. A practical vrata is set forth: bathing outdoors, restraint in diet, worship of Viṣṇu three times daily, offering an unbroken lamp, performing homa with ghee and sesame, and giving abundant dāna—oil, cotton, blankets, clothing, food, and even a little gold—concluded by an udyāpana aligned with Ekādaśī. It then magnifies tīrtha-māhātmya through a graded scale of merit, from bathing at home to wells, ponds, and rivers, to devakhātas and confluences, culminating in Prayāga/Veṇī—the meeting of Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī (Sitā–Asitā)—as a place that burns away sin. An exemplum follows: Kāñcanamālinī’s Māgha observance yields transferable merit by which an aged rākṣasa is liberated and assumes a divine form; Indra’s purification at Sitāsita is cited in support. The chapter closes by praising the hearing of this discourse as protective and productive of dharma.