Adhyaya 218

Nārada extols the wondrous glory of the Puṣkara tīrtha, which bestows Śiva’s grace and delights Viṣṇu, who once stayed for a month in Puṇḍarīka’s home. By the tīrtha’s power, even Puṇḍarīka’s sinful younger brother attained liberation. The narrative then tells of Mālava, a Viṣṇu-devoted brāhmaṇa of Vidarbha, who journeys in the auspicious time of Jupiter in Leo to bathe in the Godāvarī and to give gold as dāna only to a worthy recipient. He chooses his sister’s son Puṇḍarīka as the ideal pātra, gives him half, and Puṇḍarīka further donates to śrotriya brāhmaṇas. On the return, Puṇḍarīka finds Bharata mortally wounded; Bharata dies and rises in a divine aerial car, confessing grave sins yet crediting Puṣkara’s liberating grace for his heavenly attainment—showing tīrtha-prabhāva joined to repentance and devotional resolve.