kine.  Indeed, one acquireth not, by the performance of the Agnishtoma and other sacrifices distinguished by large gifts, that merit which one requireth by a sojourn to a tirtha.  In the world of men, there is that tirtha of the God of gods, celebrated over the three worlds by the name of Pushkara.  One that sojourneth there becometh equal unto that deity.  O high-souled son of the Kuru race, during the two twilights and mid-day there is the presence of hundred thousand millions of tirthas in Pushkara.  The Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Sadhyas, the Maruts, the Gandharvas, and the Apsaras are ever present, O exalted one, in Pushkara.  It was there, O king, that the gods, the Daityas and Brahmarshis, having performed ascetic devotions there, obtained great merit and finally attained to god-hood.

“’"Men of self-control, by even thinking mentally of Pushkara, are cleansed from their sins, and regarded in heaven.  O king, the illustrious grand-sire having the lotus for his seat, had dwelt with great pleasure in this tirtha.  O blessed one, it was in Pushkara that the gods with the Rishis having acquired of old great merit, finally obtained the highest success.  The person who, devoted to the worship of the gods and the Pitris, batheth in this tirtha, obtaineth, it hath been said by the wise, merit that is equal to ten times that of the horse-sacrifice.  Having gone to the Pushkara woods, he that feedeth even one Brahmana, becometh happy here and hereafter, O Bhishma, for that act.  He that supporteth himself on vegetables and roots and fruits, may with pious regard and without disrespect, give even such fare to a Brahmana.  And, O best of kings, the man of wisdom, even by such a gift, will acquire the merit of a horse-sacrifice.  Those illustrious persons among Brahmanas or Kshatriyas or Vaisyas or Sudras that bathe in Pushkara are freed from the obligation of rebirth.  That man in special who visits Pushkara on the full moon of the month of Karttika, acquireth ever-lasting regions in the abode of Brahma.  He that thinketh with joined hands morning and evening, of the Pushkara, practically batheth, O Bharata, in every tirtha.  Whether a male or a female, whatever sins one may commit since birth, are all destroyed as soon as one batheth in Pushkara.  As the slayer of Madhu is the foremost of all the celestials, so is Pushkara, O king, the foremost of all tirthas.  A man by residing with purity and regulated vows for twelve years in Pushkara, acquireth the merit of all the sacrifices, and goeth to the abode of Brahma.  The merit of one who performeth the Agnihotra for full one hundred years, is equal to that of him who resideth for the single month of Karttika in Pushkara.  There are three white hillocks and three springs known from the remotest times, we do not know why, by the name of the Pushkara.  It is difficult to go to Pushkara; it is difficult to undergo ascetic austerities at Pushkara; it is difficult to give away at Pushkara; and it is difficult to live at Pushkara.