Prayāga-māhātmya — The Greatness of Prayāga and the Discipline of Pilgrimage
एतत् प्रजापतिक्षेत्रं त्रिषु लोकेषु विश्रुतम् / अत्र स्नात्वा दिवं यान्ति ये मृतास्ते ऽपुनर्भवाः
etat prajāpatikṣetraṃ triṣu lokeṣu viśrutam / atra snātvā divaṃ yānti ye mṛtāste 'punarbhavāḥ
ഇത് പ്രജാപതിയുടെ പുണ്യക്ഷേത്രം; ത്രിലോകങ്ങളിലും പ്രസിദ്ധം. ഇവിടെ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത് ദേഹത്യാഗം ചെയ്യുന്നവർ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിലേക്ക് പോകുന്നു; പിന്നെ പുനർജന്മമില്ല.
Narrator (Purana narrator describing the tirtha-mahatmya within the Kurma Purana’s sacred-geography discourse)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Indirectly: it frames liberation as apunarbhava (no return to rebirth), a classic marker of realizing the highest state beyond cyclical embodiment—here expressed through the tirtha’s sanctifying power rather than explicit Atman metaphysics.
The practice emphasized is tīrtha-snāna (ritual bathing) as a purificatory discipline; in Purāṇic soteriology it functions alongside yoga and devotion as an outer means that supports inner purification (śuddhi) leading toward higher attainments.
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu directly; instead it reflects the Kurma Purana’s integrative worldview where sacred places and purifying rites are upheld as universally efficacious within a shared dharmic framework that can accommodate both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava paths.