It is by thy grace that all the gods sport without anxiety or fear.  And adoring Mahadeva thus the Rishi also said, ’O god of gods, grant me thy grace, so that my asceticism may not diminish.’  Then that god of cheerful soul answered the regenerate Rishi,—­saying, ’Let thy asceticism, O Brahmana, increase a thousandfold through my grace.  And, O great Muni, I shall dwell with thee in this thy asylum.  Bathing in Saptasaraswata, they that will worship me, shall be able to attain everything here and hereafter.  And, without doubt, they shall all attain to the Saraswata region in the end.’  Having said this, Mahadeva disappeared then and there.

“After visiting Saraswata, one should proceed to Ausanasa celebrated over the three worlds.  There, O Bharata, the gods with Brahma at their head, and Rishis endued with wealth of asceticism, and the illustrious Kartikeya, were ever present during two twilights and the mid-day, impelled by the desire of doing good to Bhargava.  There in that tirtha is another called Kapalamochana, which cleanseth from every sin.  O tiger among men, bathing there one is cleansed from every sin.  One should then proceed to the tirtha called Agni.  Bathing there, O bull among men, one obtaineth the regions of agni and raiseth his own race (from lower regions).  There in that tirtha is another, O chief of the Bharatas, that belongeth to Viswamitra.  Bathing there, O best of men, one obtaineth the status of a Brahmana.  Proceeding next to Brahmayoni in purity of body and with subdued soul, one obtaineth, O tiger among men, by bathing there, the abode of Brahma, and sanctifieth, without doubt, his own race to the seventh generation up and down.  One should next proceed, O king, to the tirtha celebrated over the three worlds, which is called Prithudaka, belonging to Kartikeya.  One should bathe there and occupy oneself in the worship of the Pitris and the gods.  Whatever evil hath been committed, knowingly or unknowingly, by man or woman, impelled by human motives, is all destroyed, O Bharata, by a bath in that tirtha.  Bathing there one obtaineth, too, the merit of the horse-sacrifice and heaven also.  The learned have said that Kurukshetra is holy; that holier than Kurukshetra is the Saraswati; that holier than the Saraswati are all the tirthas together, and that holier than all the tirthas together is Prithudaka.  He that engaged in the recitation of prayers casteth off his body at Prithudaka, which is the best of all tirthas, becometh an immortal.  It hath been sung by Sanatkumara and by the high-souled Vyasa, and it is in the Vedas also, that one should, O king, go to Prithudaka, with subdued soul.  O son of Kuru race, there is no tirtha which is superior to Prithudaka.  Without doubt, that tirtha is purifying, holy and sin-destroying.  O best of men, it hath been said by learned persons that men, however sinful, by bathing in Prithudaka, go to heaven.  O best of the Bharatas, there in that tirtha is another called Madhusrava.