Adhyaya 75

Chapter PP.6.75 proclaims the tīrtha-māhātmya of Gaṇḍikā (Gaṇḍakī), extolling it as Gaṅgā-like and as the place where Śālagrāma stones appear in many forms. The region is sanctified as Viṣṇu’s own field, frequented by sages, gods, and semi-divine beings, and it is said that merely seeing or touching the river purifies even grievous sins. It prescribes seasonal pilgrimage—especially in Āṣāḍha—together with a month-long observance of bathing, charity, and unbroken japa of the Tāraka-mantra. A distinctive injunction directs dvija practitioners to bear Vaiṣṇava emblems (śaṅkha and cakra), linking them to liberation and to being truly Vaiṣṇava. The chapter closes with a superlative hierarchy: no tīrtha equals Gaṇḍikā, no vow equals Dvādaśī, and no deity surpasses Keśava.