Adhyaya 12

In this adhyāya, the sages ask Sūta to explain the greatness (vaibhava) of Śrī Swāmi Puṣkariṇī/Swāmi-tīrtha, said to grant deliverance even by mere remembrance. Sūta replies that those who praise it, recount its glory, or bathe in it do not suffer the fate of the twenty-eight narakas. The chapter then lists these hell-realms by name and links select moral transgressions to specific punitive destinations: seizing others’ wealth and relationships; hatred toward parents and learned persons; straying from the Vedic path; harmful disruption of beings; sexual misconduct; anti-dharma sectarian agitation; impurity of conduct; violence toward animals; and ritual hypocrisy. After each illustrative case, a refrain-like assurance declares that bathing in Swāmi-tīrtha prevents such a fall. The phalaśruti concludes that its merit equals great sacrifices and gifts, purifies even grave sins at once, and gives rise to virtues such as wisdom, detachment, and clarity of mind. It warns against dismissing this praise as exaggeration, portraying disbelief as spiritually perilous. Finally, seeing, bathing, praising, touching, and bowing at the tīrtha are proclaimed as comprehensive means to freedom from death-fear and to bhukti–mukti (worldly welfare and liberation).