Kinnaras, is called Gangadwara.  O king, Sanatkumara regardeth that spot visited by Brahmarshis, as also the tirtha Kanakhala (that is near to it), as sacred.  There also is the mountain named Puru which is resorted to by great Rishis and where Pururavas was born, and Bhrigu practised ascetic austerities.  For this it is, O king, that asylum hath become known as the great peak of Bhrigutunga.  Near that peak is the sacred and extensive Vadari, that highly meritorious asylum, famed over the three worlds, of him, O bull of the Bharata race, who is the Present, the Past and the Future, who is called Narayana and the lord Vishnu, who is eternal and the best of male beings, and who is pre-eminently illustrious.  Near Vadari, the cool current of Ganga was formerly warm, and the banks there were overspread with golden sands.  There the gods and Rishis of high fortune and exceeding effulgence, approaching the divine lord Narayana, always worship him.  The entire universe with all its tirthas and holy spots is there where dwelleth the divine and eternal Narayana, the Supreme soul, for he is Merit, he is the Supreme Brahma, he is tirtha, he is the ascetic retreat, he is the First, he is the foremost of gods, and he is the great Lord of all creatures.  He is eternal, he is the great Creator, and he is the highest state of blessedness.  Learned persons versed in the scriptures attain to great happiness by knowing him.  In that spot are the celestial Rishis, the Siddhas, and, indeed, all the Rishis,—­where dwelleth the slayer of Madhu, that primeval Deity and mighty Yogin!  Let no doubt enter thy heart that that spot is the foremost of all holy spots.  These, O lord of earth, are the tirthas and sacred spots on earth, that I have recited, O best of men!  These all are visited by the Vasus, the Sadhyas, the Adityas, the Marutas, the Aswins and the illustrious Rishis resembling the celestials themselves.  By journeying, O son of Kunti, to those places, with the Brahmanas and ascetics that are with thee and with thy blessed brothers, thou wilt be freed from anxiety!”

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Vaisampayana continued, “O son of the Kuru race, while Dhaumya was speaking thus, there arrived at the spot the Rishi Lomasa of great energy.  And the king, who was the eldest of Pandu’s sons, with his followers and those Brahmanas sat round the highly righteous one, like celestials in heaven sitting round Sakra.  And having received him duly, Yudhishthira the just enquired after the reason of his arrival, and the object also of his wanderings.  Thus asked by Pandu’s son, the illustrious ascetic, well-pleased, replied in sweet words delighting the Pandavas, ’Travelling at will, O Kaunteya, over all the regions, I came to Sakra’s abode, and saw there the lord of the celestials.  There, I saw thy heroic brother capable of wielding the bow with his left hand, seated on the same seat with Sakra.  And beholding Partha on that seat I was greatly astonished, O tiger among