Adhyaya 10

This chapter is taught through a dialogue chiefly between Agastya and Vyāsa, framed by Sūta’s narration. It opens with rules for worship and festival observance (utsava) in Ayodhyā connected with protective and wish-fulfilling deities and sacred spots, mentioning the guardian-hero “Ayodhyā-rakṣaka” and Surasā, a rākṣasī portrayed as a Viṣṇu-bhakta and installed in Ayodhyā for protection. It then points to western sites such as Piṇḍāraka and prescribes worship of Vighneśvara for the removal of obstacles. The text marks out a “Janmasthāna” by directional boundaries and exalts its saving power: mere sight is said to surpass the fruits of great gifts and austerities. A vrata-holder on the ninth day is declared freed from “birth-bondage” through snāna (sacred bathing) and dāna (giving). A substantial section praises the Sarayū: its darśana equals long residence and famed rites elsewhere, and remembrance of Ayodhyā is presented as a potent liberative practice; Sarayū is described as brahman in watery form and as ever bestowing mokṣa. The teaching then turns to “mānasatīrthas” (inner pilgrimage-sites)—truth, forgiveness, sense-restraint, compassion, truth-speaking, knowledge, and austerity—insisting that purity of mind is the true measure of bathing, and that outward rites without inward cleansing are ineffective. The chapter ends with a structured yātrā-krama: rising early, bathing at key kuṇḍas, sequential darśanas of specified deities and stations, with timing notes (ekādaśī, aṣṭamī/caturdaśī, aṅgāraka-caturthī), concluding that regular performance brings auspicious results and prevents return (punarāvṛtti).