"Dhaumya continued, 'I shall describe to thee those sacred spots capable
of producing merit that lie on the west. In the country of the Anarttas,
O Bharata, there flows in a westward course the sacred river Narmada,
graced by _Priyangu_ and mango trees, and engarlanded with thickest of
canes. All the _tirthas_ and sacred spots, and rivers and woods and
foremost of mountains that are in the three worlds, all the gods with
the Grandsire, along with the Siddhas, the Rishis and the Charanas, O
best of the Kurus, always come, O Bharata, to bathe in the sacred waters
of the Narmada. And it hath been heard by us that the sacred asylum of
the Muni Visravas, had stood there, and that there was born the lord of
treasures, Kuvera, having men for his vehicles. There also is that
foremost of hills, the sacred and auspicious Vaidurya peak abounding
with trees that are green and which are always graced with fruit and
flowers. O lord of the earth, on the top of that mountain is a sacred
tank decked with full-blown lotus and resorted to by the gods and the
Gandharvas. Many are the wonders, O mighty monarch, that may be seen on
that sacred mountain which is like unto heaven itself and which is
visited by celestial Rishis. There, O subjugator of hostile cities, is
the sacred river called Viswamitra belonging to the royal sage of that
name and which abounds, O king, in many sacred _tirthas_. It was on the
banks of this river, that Yayati, the son of Nahusha, (fell from heaven)
among the virtuous, and obtained once more the eternal regions of the
righteous. Here also are the well-known lake called _Punya_, the
mountain called Mainaka, and that other mountain called Asita abounding
in fruits and roots. And here also is the sacred asylum of Kakshasena,
and O Yudhishthira, the asylum of Chyavana also, which is famed over
every country, O son of Pandu! In that spot, O exalted one, men attain
to (ascetic) success without severe austerities. Here also, O mighty
king, is the region called Jamvumarga, inhabited by birds and deer, and
which constitutes the retreat of ascetics with souls under control, O
thou foremost of those that have subdued their senses! Next lie the
exceedingly sacred Ketumala, and Medhya ever graced with ascetics, and,
O lord of earth, Gangadwara, and the well-known woods of Saindhava which
are sacred and inhabited by the regenerate ones. There also is the
celebrated tank of the Grandsire, called Pushkara, the favourite abode
of the Vaikanasas, and Siddhas and Rishis. Moved by the desire of
obtaining its protection, the Creator sang this verse at Pushkara, O
chief of the Kurus and foremost of virtuous men! If a person of pure
soul purposes a pilgrimage to the Pushkaras in imagination even, he
becometh purged from all his sins and rejoiceth in heaven!'"