During the exile, when the remaining Pandavas were leading an ascetic life in Kamyak forest, Arjun had gone on pilgrimages. One day, when Maharaj Yudhishthira was waiting for Arjuna and his anxiety increased a lot, Devarshi Narada came to his court by travelling through the sky as if knowing his thoughts. Dharmaraj got up and welcomed him appropriately. Seeing the worried face of Maharaj Yudhishthira, Devarshi Narada wanted to know the reason for his anxiety. Yudhishthira said that younger brother Arjuna has gone on pilgrimage on the instructions of Sage Ved Vyas. Please tell us about the fruits of pilgrimage. On this, Devarshi reminded Grandfather Bhishma of the information given by Sage Pulastya and told him its essence.
Devarshi told that Rishi Pulastya had informed that the fruit of pilgrimage is attained only by such a person who goes on pilgrimage without ego and who goes to pilgrimage after controlling senses, eating less and not possessing anything. One should never lie and should not get angry at pilgrimage. Otherwise, the fruit of pilgrimage is not attained. The most important fruit of pilgrimage is that those people who do not have money and hence are unable to perform yagyas performed with material things, they also get the same fruit as yagyas, in fact, they get better fruit from pilgrimage than the fruit obtained by performing big Agnishtom etc. yagyas.
1. Pushkar Tirtha - In Pushkar, the pilgrimage of Brahma ji, Aditya, Vasu, Rudra and Sadhya Deva live there. By going there and doing penance, one gets great virtue. By taking bath in Pushkar and worshipping the gods and offering tarpan to the ancestors, one gets ten times the result of Ashwamedha Yagna. Going there, feed at least one learned Brahmin. Especially, by taking bath in Pushkar Tirtha on the full moon day of Kartik month, one gets great virtue. By residing in Pushkar with purity, restraint and discipline for twelve years, a person gets the fruits of all the yagyas and goes to Brahmaloka after death.
2. Jambu Marg - Jambu Marg is a pilgrimage place served by the gods and a person's desires are fulfilled by going there.
3. Agastya Sarovar- Bathing in Agastya Sarovar for three days and by worshipping, one gets the fruits of Agnishtom Yagna. By staying there and eating fruits and worshipping, one gets great merits.
4. Kanva Ashram- As soon as a person goes to the ashram of sage Kanva, he gets freedom from the effects of all sins. It is called Dharmaranya.
5. Mahakal Tirtha- By staying regularly for some time in Mahakal Tirtha and doing sadhna, one gets the fruits of Ashwamedha Yagna.
6. Narmada Banks The holy river Narmada is famous in all the three worlds. By going to its banks and taking bath, offering tarpan and worshipping the gods, one gets the fruits of Agnishtom Yagna.
7. Journey to the South Sea By going south from Narmada and travelling to the Indus Ocean, one again gets great virtuous results.
8. Abu Tirtha The holy Arbuda (Abu) mountain is a great pilgrimage in itself. Earlier there was a deep pit here. Staying here for one night gives the fruits of donating thousands of cows.
9. Prabhas Tirtha - Bathing in Prabhas Tirtha and worshipping the deities yields the fruits of many yagyas.
10.Saraswati-Samudra Sangam - By going and taking bath at the confluence of Saraswati and the sea, one not only gets the result of donating a thousand cows, but also attains heaven for a long time.
11.Varuna Tirtha 'Samudra' - By bathing in Varuna Tirtha i.e. the sea for three days, a person gets radiance and brilliance and gets the fruits of Ashwamedha Yagna.
12.Dwarka Tirtha - By going to Dwarka and staying there for a few days while performing regular prayers and by worshipping at Pindarak Tirtha, a person gets abundant gold.
13.Tirtharaj Prayag Similarly, Maharishi Narad told Maharaj Yudhishthir about the holy places mentioned by Rishi Pulastya and told him about the glory of Tirtharaj Prayag, the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna. Where Brahma ji had first performed the yagya. That excellent yagya due to the worship of the Ganges, this place was named Prayag. It is a very sacred and holy place famous in the whole world. Rishi Agastya's ashram is near it. This is also a holy pilgrimage. Prayag extends from Pratishthan 'Jhunsi' to the reservoir of Vasuki Nag and Kambal Nag and Ashvatara Nag and Bahumulak Nag. It is famous in all three worlds as the holy place of Prajapati. There are three holy wells in Prayag, Pratishthanpur and Alarkapur. The entire land between Ganga and Yamuna is the most prosperous land of the earth and Prayag is its core part. The place where the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet is the holy Triveni. One gets eternal virtue by bathing in it. The glory of more than 20 sub-pilgrimages under Prayag has also been described. Along with this, the importance of bathing in Sangam in the month of Magh has also been mentioned. Naradji told that a person who takes bath in Sangam gets the fruits of ten Ashvamedha Yagyas and his clan gets saved.
14.Kashi Kashi or Varanasi is one of the holiest pilgrimages and there are hundreds of sub-tirthas there. Lord Vishwanath is the protector deity of Varanasi. 'Along with Vana Parva, the glory of Kashi has been described in Anushasana Parva as well.' Varanasi, Kashi, Avimukt, Anandkanan and Mahasmshan - these are the names of Kashi. Being the favorite city of Lord Shiva, it is Anandkanan or Anandvan and hence it is also Mahasmshan. Narad ji told that the person who comes and lives here gets free from all sins as soon as he sees Lord Vishwanath and if he dies in Kashi, he gets salvation.
15.Ayodhya Rishi Pulastya had told Bhishma Pitamah that Ayodhya is the most sacred pilgrimage. A person who goes there and takes a bath and fasts for three days, gets the fruits of Vajpayee Yajna and his clan is saved and he gets the fruits of donating one thousand cows.
16.Chitrakoot - Visiting Chitrakoot situated on the banks of Mandakini destroys all sins and grants ultimate salvation. All the holy rivers and the four seas reside in Bharat Koop situated in the Chitrakoot area. By bathing in its water, men become extremely pure and attain ultimate salvation.
17. Gaya Tirtha - Rajarshi Gaya was a famous emperor. He performed a very big yagya and distributed innumerable dakshinas. There food and donations were given to the beggars every day throughout the year. The sound of Vedic mantras used to reverberate all around which used to reach the heaven. That yagya was unprecedented and because of that Gaya Tirtha is the most sacred pilgrimage. Even a person who commits a grave sin like Brahma Hatya becomes pure by performing Pind Daan on Pretshila and Krounchpadi and Nirvind hill. There are many pilgrimages in Gaya area, whose description has been given in Vana Parva as well as Anushasana Parva.
18. Kurukshetra Maharishi Narad, while describing the importance of Kurukshetra, called it extremely sacred and told that by going there and worshipping, one can attain many siddhis. According to Rishi Pulastya, Kurukshetra is Brahmavedi. Where Brahmarishis always reside, by staying there and worshipping, one gets eternal fruits. Kurukshetra is special for the residents of all the three worlds. The following are the verses said by Devrishi Narad in this regard -
Trayanamapi Lokanaam Kurukshetra vishishyate l
Pansavopi Kurukshetrada Vayu na samudrita ll Api Dushkrit karmanam Nayanti Parmam Gatim l
Dakshinena Saraswatya Uttatena Drishdwatim ll
Ye Vasanti Kurukshetra Te Vasanti Trivishtape l
Kurukshetre Gamishyami Kurukshetre Vasamyaham ll
Aapyekam Vachamutyasrijya Sarva Papai Pramuchyate l Brahmavedi Kurukshetram Punya Brahmarshisevitam ll
Tasmin Vasanti Ye Martya Na Te ShochyahKathanchana ll
Tarantukarantukayoryadantaram , Ramhridyanam Cha Machakrukasya Cha l
Aetat Kurukshetrasamantpanchkam, Pitamahasyottaravediruchyate ll
(Vanparva, Chapter 83, Shlok - 203-208)
That is, Naimisharanya, Pushkar and Kurukshetra are very special pilgrimages in the world. Among these, Kurukshetra is the most special. The dust that flies there, the person on whom it falls, gets freed from all sins. Kurukshetra is to the south of Saraswati river and north of Drishadvati. It is extremely sacred. Anyone who wishes to live in it also gets freed from all sins. This is the altar of Brahma ji. Kurukshetra is the Samantapanchaka. Which is called the northern altar of Brahma ji.
Actually, under Vanaparva, from chapter 80 to 145, Devrishi Narad described the greatness of thousands of pilgrimages to Maharaj Yudhishthir. Which is of great importance from the religious point of view. After listening to this importance of pilgrimages, Yudhishthir's worry about Arjun who had gone on pilgrimage ended and after the end of exile, he started planning a fierce war with the Kauravas. From this point of view, the pilgrimage festival has great importance. Describing the many virtuous fruits and siddhis that Arjuna got by going on this pilgrimage and the journey undertaken by Bhimsen to bring the fragrant lotus, in which he met the immortal, omniscient Mahayogi Shri Hanumanji, who has been continuously doing penance since the Treta Yuga, Shri Ved Vyas Ji has narrated the story of Arjuna returning to the Gandhamadana mountain.
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