Shloka 97
Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
राजन! वहाँ देवता, ऋषि, पितर, गन्धर्व, अप्सरा, गुह्क, किन्नर, यक्ष, सिद्ध, विद्याधर, मनुष्य, राक्षस, दैत्य, रुद्र और ब्रह्मा--इन सबने नियमपूर्वक सहस्र वर्षोंके लिये उत्तम दीक्षा ग्रहण करके भगवान् विष्णुकी प्रसन्नताके लिये चरु अर्पण किया। ऋग्वेदके सात-सात मन्त्रोंद्वारा सबने चरुकी सात-सात आहुतियाँ दीं और भगवान् केशवको प्रसन्न किया ।। ९४ -7९%६ || ददावष्टगुणैश्वर्य तेषां तुष्टस्तु केशव: । यथाभिलषितानन्यान् कामान् दत्त्वा महीपते,उनपर प्रसन्न होकर भगवानने उन्हें अष्टगुण-ऐश्वर्य अर्थात् अणिमा आदि आठ सिद्धियाँ प्रदान कीं। महाराज! तत्पश्चात् उनकी इच्छाके अनुसार अन्यान्य वर देकर भगवान् केशव वहाँसे उसी प्रकार अन्तर्धान हो गये, जैसे मेघोंकी घटामें बिजली तिरोहित हो जाती है। भारत! इसीलिये वह तीर्थ तीनों लोकोंमें सप्तचरुके नामसे विख्यात है। वहाँ अग्निके लिये दिया हुआ चरु एक लाख गोदान, सौ राजसूययज्ञ और सहस्र अश्वमेधयज्ञसे भी अधिक कल्याणकारी है। राजेन्द्र! वहाँसे लौटकर रुद्रपद नामक तीर्थमें जाय। वहाँ महादेवजीकी पूजा करके तीर्थयात्री पुरुष अश्वमेधका फल पाता है
rājan! tatra devatā ṛṣayaḥ pitaraḥ gandharvā apsarasaḥ guhyakāḥ kinnarā yakṣāḥ siddhā vidyādharā manuṣyā rākṣasā daityā rudrā brahmā ca—ete sarve niyamapūrvakaṃ sahasra-varṣāṇi uttamāṃ dīkṣāṃ gṛhītvā bhagavato viṣṇoḥ prasādanārthaṃ caruṃ samarpayām āsuḥ | ṛgvedasya sapta-sapta-mantraiḥ sarvair api caror sapta-saptāhutīr hutvā bhagavantaṃ keśavaṃ toṣayām āsuḥ || tuṣṭas tu keśavo mahīpate teṣām aṇimādy-aṣṭa-guṇaiśvaryaṃ dadau | yathābhilaṣitān anyān kāmān dattvā tataḥ sa bhagavān keśavaḥ tatraiva megha-ghaṭāyāṃ vidyud iva antardadhe | ata eva tat tīrthaṃ trilokeṣu saptacaru-nāmnā vikhyātam | tatra agnaye dattaḥ caruḥ lakṣa-go-dāna-śata-rājasūya-sahasrāśvamedha-phalaṃ atikrāmati | tataḥ nivṛtya rudrapada-nāmakaṃ tīrthaṃ gacchet; tatra mahādevaṃ pūjayitvā tīrthayātrī puruṣaḥ aśvamedha-phalaṃ prāpnoti |
Ghūlastya said: “O king, in that place the gods, seers, ancestors, Gandharvas, Apsarases, Guhyakas, Kinnaras, Yakṣas, Siddhas, Vidyādharas, humans, Rākṣasas, Daityas, Rudras, and Brahmā—all of them—undertook an excellent consecrated discipline for a thousand years, and, to please Lord Viṣṇu, offered the sacred rice-porridge (caru). Using sets of seven Ṛgvedic mantras, each offered seven oblations of that caru and thus delighted Keśava. Pleased, Keśava granted them the eightfold lordly powers—beginning with aṇimā—and then, O ruler, bestowed other desired boons as well. Having granted what they wished, the Lord vanished from that place, like lightning disappearing within a mass of clouds. Therefore that sacred ford is famed in the three worlds as ‘Saptacaru’. An offering of caru there into Agni is said to bring greater spiritual welfare than a hundred Rājasūyas, a thousand Aśvamedhas, or even a hundred thousand gifts of cows. From there one should go to the tīrtha called Rudrapada; worshipping Mahādeva there, a pilgrim attains the fruit of an Aśvamedha.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Disciplined observance (niyama) and sustained consecrated practice (dīkṣā), when directed toward sincere devotion, culminate in divine grace. The passage also frames tīrtha-ritual as ethically transformative: a simple, properly offered oblation can outweigh grand sacrifices, emphasizing inner sincerity and sacred context over sheer scale.
A vast assembly of beings undertakes a thousand-year vow and offers sevenfold Ṛgvedic oblations of caru to please Viṣṇu. Keśava, pleased, grants them the eight siddhis and other boons, then disappears. The place becomes famous as the Saptacaru tīrtha, and the text recommends proceeding next to the Rudrapada tīrtha to worship Mahādeva for Aśvamedha-like merit.