Teerth of Bhaarat Varsh

Teerth of Bhaarat Varsh

Agni Dev said - " Hey Vashishth, Now I will tell you about all Teerth which give pleasures and Moksh. Who has his Indriyaan under control, only he is worthy to get the fruits of Teerth. Who eats regulated food, only he gets the fruits of Teerth. Who has not fasted for 3 nights, who has never gone to any Teerth, has not donated gold or cow, he is poor. Whatever fruit one gets from Yagya, he gets from Teerth.

Pushkar - Pushkar Teerth is the highest. 30 million Teerth are present there during all three Sandhyaas. There live Brahmaa Jee with all Devtaa. Who worships Devtaa and Pitar there, he gets the fruits of Ashwamedh Yagya. Who donates grains or food there on Kaarttik Poornimaa, he goes to Brahm Lok. Going there is difficult, getting opportunity of doing Tap or Daan there is difficult, and the most difficult is to live there.

Kanv Aashram, Koti Teerth, Narmadaa and Arbud (Aaboo), Pindaarak Kshetra (area), Dwaarakaa, they all give all kinds of Siddhi. Who always says, "I will go to Kuru Kshetra, I will live in Kuru Kshetra", he becomes clean. Taking a dip in Saraswatee River, which flows near Kuru Kshetra, goes to Brahm Lok. Haridwaar, Kanakhal, Allaahaabaad, all destroy sins. Vaaraanasee is the highest Teerth. This area is called Free area also. [When Harishchandra had donated all Prithvi to Vishwaamitra Jee, he lived in Kaashee. Prayaag is the king of all Teerth. Sangam of Gomatee and Gangaa, Raaj Grih, Shaalgraam Teerth destroy all kinds of sins. Mandaakinee, Chitrakoot, Shringverpur, Avantee, Naimishaaranya - all Teerth give pleasures and Moksh.

Gangaa River - Gangaa River uplifts families of both father and mother. Drinking Gangaa water is better than doing 1,000 Chaandraayan Vrat. Who drinks Gangaa Water for one month, he gets the fruits of all Yagyas. Gangaa destroys all sins and gives Swarg Lok. Till the bone in Gangaa River, a person lives in Swarg till then. Who chants "Gangaa" name, he uplifts his hundreds of generations.

Prayaag - Agni Dev said - "Brahmaa, Vishnu, Mahesh live here with many Devtaa and Muni. All rivers, seas, Siddh, Gandharv and Apsaraa live here. There are 3 Agni Kund. Gangaa flows through them carrying all Teerth, that is it is the highest. Place of Vaasuki Naag are Bhogvatee Teerth also very good Teerth. Whatever fruit one gets by donating millions of cows, that one gets by taking a dip in them for three days. Who donates in Prayaag, he goes to Swarg. Who dies near Akshaya Vat (immortal banyan tree) or in Sangam, he goes to Vishnu's Dhaam. Sandhyaa Vat, Koti Teerth, Dashaashwamedh Ghaat, Sangam (Prayaag) - they all are good Teerth.

Vaaraanasee - Agni Dev said - "Who lives here pronouncing Hari's name, he gets all kinds of pleasures and Moksh. Mahaadev has told Gauree its importance like this - "Gauree, I have never left this area, I always live there, that is why it is called "A-Vimukt". All Jap, Tap, Daan, Hom etc done here are A-Kshaya (immortal). One may break his legs by stone, but never leave Kaashee. There are 8 secret A-Vimukt Kshetra - (1) Harishchandra, (2) Aamraatkeshwar, (3) Japyeshwar, (4) Shree Parvat (see below under "Narmadaa River"), (5) Mahaalaya, (6) Bhrigu, (7) Chandeshwar, and (8) Kedaar Teerth. My A-Vimukt Kshetra (Kaashee) is the most secret one among all secret Kshetra. This is 2 Yojan long and 1.2 Yojan wide. Vaaraanasee is situated between two rivers - Varanaa and Naasee (Asee). Whatever you do here, all gives you pleasures and Moksh.

Narmadaa River - Agni Dev said - "Gangaa water purifies a person immediately, but even the Darshan of Narmadaa water purifies a person. It is 100 Yojan long and 2 Yojan wide. 600,060,000 Teerth are on Narmadaa itself which flows around Amarkantak mountain. Kaaveree Teerth is also good. Shree Parvat - Once Gauree did a severe penance assuming the form of Shree Devee (Lakshmee). Pleased with this Shree Hari said to her - "Devee, You will obtain Adhyaatm Gyaan (spiritual knowledge) and this mountain will be known as Shree Parvat. 100 Yojan are around this mountain will be holy. Whatever Daan, Tap, Dharm is done here all is Akshaya. Shiv always enjoys with Paarvatee on this mountain. Hiranyakashyap did his Tap here only.

Gayaa - Agni Dev said - "Gayaa is the highest rated Teerth among all Teerth. Once it so happened, that Gaya named Asur did severe penance here. Devtaa got scared and came to Vishnu and said - "Bhagavan, Please protect us from Gayaasur." Vishnu went to Gayaasur and asked him to ask for any boon. He said - "Prabho, I should be the holiest Teerth among all the Teerth." Bhagavaan said, "So be it." and disappeared. Now all people went to him to have his Darshan [because he was the greatest Teerth now]. Earth became without people [because all people went to Vishnu's Param Dhaam after his Darshan and never came back to Prithvi]. Brahmaa and Devtaa again went to Vishnu and said - "Prabho, Prithvi and Swarg have become without people, because everybody has gone to your Lok by seeing only that Daitya." Hari said - "You go to Gayaasur and ask him to give you his body to do Yagya." Brahmaa Jee went to Gayaasur and asked his body to do Yagya.

Gayaasur said, "So be it." and immediately lay down on the ground. Brahmaa Jee started his Yagya on his forehead. When the time came for Poorn Aahuti, Gayaasur got scared and his body started shaking. Brahmaa Jee said to Vishnu - "Bhagavan, Gayaasur is scared at the time of Poorn Aahuti, and his body is shaking." Vishnu called Dharm and asked him to keep the Dev Shilaa (Divine stone) on his body and asked all Devtaa to sit on that stone. He asked them to keep His Gadaadhar (who bears Gadaa) idol also along with Devtaa. Hearing this Dharm kept that Dev Shilaa on Daitya's body."

Now what was this Dev Shilaa? - Dharm had a daughter from his wife Dharmvatee, her name was Dharmvrataa. She was a great ascetic. Brahmaa's son Mareechi married her. As he was enjoying with her, that one day Maharshi got tired after bringing flowers and Kushaa from the forest. He took his food and asked his wife to massage his feet. Dharmvrataa started massaging Mareechi's feet. Muni slept. At that time Brahmaa Jee came there. Dharmvrataa thought, "What should I do? Should I continue with Muni's service or worship Brahmaa Jee? Brahmaa Jee is the Guru of Guru, he is the Guru of my husband also, so I should worship Brahmaa Jee."

Thinking thus she rose and worshipped Brahmaa Jee. In the meantime, Mareechi woke up and did not find his wife there. He got furious and cursed her - "You become a stone." Hearing this Dharmvrataa also got angry and said - "Hey Muni, I am innocent because leaving your service, I have served your father. You have cursed me in this situation, you will also be cursed by Shiv Jee." Saying thus, that Pativrataa kept Muni's Shaap at one side and entered the fire. She performed severe penance for thousands of years. Pleased with her Vishnu etc Devtaa asked her to ask for any boon. She said - "Please, Free me from my curse."

Devtaa said - "Devee, Curse by Maharshi Mareechi cannot go waste, but from our footprints you will become a holy stone. You will have to assume the form of stone to stabilize Gayaasur's body. At that time you will be called as Devavrataa, Dev Shilaa, Sarv Dev Swaroopaa, Sarv Teerthmayee and Punya Shilaa." Dharmvrataa said - "If you are so pleased with me, then I ask that after I become a stone, all Vishnu, Brahmaa and Rudra etc Devtaa and Lakshmee, Gauree etc Devee should always live on me." All Devta said, "So be it." and went away. So Dharm kept the same Dev Shilaa on Gayaasur's body. But still Gayaasur's body was shaking. Seeing this Rudra etc Devtaa sat on that stone, but his body was still shaking. Then Devtaa had to please Vishnu to help them. Vishnu gave them His Gadaadhar idol, they kept it on that stone, and thus Vishnu Himself had to be present on that body.

The same Bhagavaan is present in Gayaa in the form of Aadi Gadaadhar.