"'Yudhishthira said, "Do thou tell me, O grandsire, of that which is
regarded as the foremost of all Tirthas. Indeed, it behoveth thee to
expound to me what that Tirtha is which conduces to the greatest
purity."[501]
"'Bhishma said, "Without doubt, all Tirthas are possessed of merit.
Listen, however, with attention to me as I tell thee what the Tirtha, the
cleanser, is of men endued with wisdom. Adhering to eternal Truth, one
should bathe in the Tirtha called Manasa, which is unfathomable (for its
depth), stainless, and pure, and which has Truth for its waters and the
understanding for its lake.[502] The fruits in the form of cleansing,
that one acquires by bathing in that Tirtha, are freedom from cupidity,
sincerity, truthfulness, mildness (of behaviour), compassion, abstention
from injuring any creature, self-restraint, and tranquillity. Those men
that are freed from attachments, that are divested of pride, that
transcend all pairs of opposites (such as pleasure and pain, praise and
blame, heat and cold, etc.), that have no spouses and children and houses
and gardens, etc., that are endued with purity, and that subsist upon the
alms given to them by others, are regarded as Tirthas. He who is
acquainted with the truths of all things and who is freed from the idea
of meum, is said to be the highest Tirtha.[503] In searching the
indications of purity, the gaze should ever be directed towards these
attributes (so that where these are present, thou mayst take purity to be
present, and where these are not, purity also should be concluded to be
not). Those persons from whose souls the attributes of Sattwa and Rajas
and Tamas have been washed off, they who, regardless of (external) purity
and impurity pursue the ends they have proposed to themselves, they who
have renounced everything, they who are possessed of omniscience and
endued with universal sight, and they who are of pure conduct, are
regarded as Tirthas possessing the power of cleansing. That man whose
limbs only are wet with water is not regarded as one that is washed. He,
on the other hand, is regarded as washed who has washed himself by
self-denial. Even such a person is said to be pure both inwardly and
outwardly. They who never concern themselves with what is past, they who
feel no attachment to acquisitions that are present, indeed, they who are
free from desire, are said to be possessed of the highest purity.
Knowledge is said to constitute the especial purity of the body. So also
freedom from desire, and cheerfulness of mind. Purity of conduct
constitutes the purity of the mind. The purity that one attains by
ablutions in sacred waters is regarded as inferior. Verily, that purity
which arises from knowledge, is regarded as the best. Those ablutions
which one performs with a blazing mind in the waters of the knowledge of
Brahma in the Tirtha called Manasa, are the true ablutions of those that
are conversant with Truth. That man who is possessed of true purity of
conduct and who is always devoted to the preservation of a proper
attitude towards all, indeed, he who is possessed of (pure) attributes
and merit, is regarded as truly pure. These that I have mentioned have
been said to be the Tirthas that inhere to the body. Do thou listen to me
as I tell thee what those sacred Tirthas are that are situate on the
earth also. Even as especial attributes that inhere to the body have been
said to be sacred, there are particular spots on earth as well, and
particular waters, that are regarded as sacred. By reciting the names of
the Tirthas, by performing ablutions there, and by offering oblations to
the Pitris in those places, one's sins are washed off. Verily, those men
whose sins are thus washed off succeed in attaining to heaven when they
leave this world. In consequence of their association with persons that
are righteous, through the especial efficacy of the earth itself of those
spots and of particular waters, there are certain portions of the earth
that have come to be regarded as sacred. The Tirthas of the mind are
separate and distinct from those of the earth. That person who bathes in
both attains to success without any delay. As strength without exertion,
or exertion without strength can never accomplish anything singly, and
as these, when combined, can accomplish all things, even so one that
becomes endued with the purity that is contributed by the Tirthas in the
body as also by that which is contributed by the Tirthas on the earth,
becomes truly pure and attains to success. That purity which is derived
from both sources is the best."'"