tirtha called Bhartristhana, where, O king, ever dwells the celestial generalissimo Kartikeya.  By a journey only to that spot, a person, O foremost of kings, attaineth to success.  Bathing next at the tirtha called Koti, one earneth the merit of giving away a thousand kine.  Having walked round Koti, one should proceed next to Jyeshthasthana.  Beholding Mahadeva who is there, one shineth like the moon.  There, O mighty monarch, is a celebrated well.  O bull of the Bharata race!  There in that well, O foremost of warriors, are the four seas.  He that bathes there, O foremost of kings, and with subdued soul worships the gods and the Pitris, is cleansed of all his sins and attaineth to an exalted state.  Then, O mighty king, should one proceed to the great Sringaverapura, where, O foremost of kings, formerly Rama, Dasharatha’s son, had crossed (the Ganga).  Bathing in that tirtha, one, O mighty-armed one, is cleansed of all his sins.  Bathing with subdued senses and leading a Brahmacharya mode of life, in the Ganga, one is cleansed of every sin, and obtains also the merit of the Vajapeya sacrifice.  One should next proceed to the place called Mayuravata, consecrated to Mahadeva of high intelligence.  Beholding there the god, bowing down to him and walking round the spot, one acquireth, O Bharata, the Ganapatya status.  Bathing in Ganga at that tirtha, one is cleansed of all his sins.  Then, O king, should one proceed to Prayaga, whose praises have been sung by Rishis and where dwell the gods with Brahma at their head, the Directions with their presiding deities, the Lokapalas, the Siddhas, the Pitris adored by the worlds, the great Rishis-Sanatkumara and others, stainless Brahmarshis—­Angiras and others,—­the Nagas, the Suparnas, the Siddhas, the Snakes, the Rivers, the Seas, the Gandharvas, the Apsaras, and the Lord Hari with Prajapati.  There in that tirtha are three fiery caverns between which the Ganga, that foremost of tirthas, rolleth rapidly.  There in that region also the world-purifying daughter of the sun, Yamuna, celebrated over the three worlds, uniteth with the Ganga.  The country between the Ganga and the Yamuna is regarded as the mons veneris of the world, and Prayaga as the foremost point of that region.  The tirthas Prayaga, Pratisthana, Kamvala, Aswatara and Bhogavati are the sacrificial platforms of the Creator.  There in those places, O foremost of warriors, the Vedas and the Sacrifices, in embodied forms, and the Rishis endued with wealth of asceticism, adore Brahma, and there the gods and rulers of territories also celebrate their sacrifices.  The learned, however, say that of all these tirthas, O exalted one, Prayaga is the most sacred, in fact, the foremost of all tirthas in the three worlds.  By going to that tirtha, by singing its praises, or by taking a little earth from it, one is cleansed from every sin.  He that bathes in that confluence celebrated over the world, acquires all the merits of the Rajasuya and the horse-sacrifices.  This