to the abode of Brahma.  One should next, O virtuous one, proceed to the tirtha called Sannihati.  Sojourning thither the gods with Brahma at their head and Rishis endued with wealth of asceticism earn much virtue.  Bathing in the Saraswati during a solar eclipse, one obtaineth the merit of a hundred horse-sacrifices, and any sacrifice that one may perform there produceth merit that is eternal.  Whatever tirthas exist on earth or in the firmament, all the rivers, lakes, smaller lakes, springs, tanks, large and small, and spots sacred to particular gods, without doubt, all come, O tiger among men, month after month, and mingle with Sannihati, O king of men!  And it is because that all other tirthas are united together here, that this tirtha is so called.  Bathing there and drinking of its water, one becometh adored in heaven.  Listen now, O king, to the merit acquired by that mortal who performeth a Sraddha on the day of the new moon during a solar eclipse.  The person that performeth a Sraddha there, after having bathed in that tirtha, obtaineth the merit that one earneth by properly celebrating a thousand horse-sacrifices.  Whatever sins a man or woman committeth, are, without doubt, all destroyed as soon as one batheth in that tirtha.  Bathing there one also ascendeth to the abode of Brahma on the lotus-coloured tar.  Bathing next in Koti-tirtha, after having worshipped the Yaksha doorkeeper, Machakruka, one obtaineth the merit of giving away gold in abundance.  Near to this, O best of the Bharatas, is a tirtha called Gangahrada.  One should bathe there, O virtuous one, with subdued soul and leading a Brahmacharya mode of life.  By this, one obtaineth merit that is greater than that of a Rajasuya and horse-sacrifices.  The tirtha called Naimisha is productive of good on earth.  Pushkara is productive of good in the regions of the firmament; Kurukshetra, however, is productive of good in respect of all the three worlds.  Even the dust of Kurukshetra, carried by the wind, leadeth sinful men to a highly blessed state.  They that reside in Kurukshetra, which lieth to the north of the Drishadwati and the south of the Saraswati, really reside in heaven.  ‘I will go to Kurukshetra,’ ’I will dwell in Kurukshetra,’ he that uttereth those words even once, becometh cleansed of all sins.  The sacred Kurukshetra which is worshipped by Brahmarshis, is regarded as the sacrificial altar of the celestials.  Those mortals that dwell there, have nothing to grieve for at any time.  That which lieth between Tarantuka and Arantuka and the lakes of Rama and Machakruka is Kurukshetra.  It is also called Samantapanchaka and is said to be the northern sacrificial altar of the Grandsire.’

SECTION LXXXIV