GUD-DHENU DAAN
As it is amply clear by the name,in this ritual some jaggery is taken and given the shape of a cow and a calf.The land is purified by coating it with cow-dung.After that,a black deer-skin is spread on that purified area.Some kusha grass are then spread on the dear-skin and covered with a piece of cloth.Now,both the idols of cow and it’s calf are worshipped with appropriate rituals after which they are donated to brahmins.A devotee should also should also donate shoes,umbrella and if possible,a gold ring to brahmins.Donating a Gud-Dhenu enables a man to attain to such divine world where sages and hermits dwell.By doing thus,he also liberates his ancestors and the future generations.
SHARKARA-DHENU DAAN
In this ritual,idols of a cow and a calf are made from sugar.After being worshipped they should be donated to a brahmin.A devotee should live only on sugar for a day.Donating a Sharkara-Dhenu liberates a man from all his sins. Similarly,donating Madhu-Dhenu(made from honey),Kheer-Dhenu(made from rice and milk),Dadhi-Dhenu(curd),Navneet-Dhenu(made from butter),Lavan-Dhenu(salt) and Karpas-Dhenu(cotton) are all believed to bestow incomparable virtues to a devotee.
KOKAMUKH-TEERTH
Describing the holiness of Kokamukh-teerth,lord Varah narrated a tale to Prithvi-“Once,a fisherman was trying to catch a large fish in a lake situated at Kokamukh.Suddenly,a hawk which was flying in the sky, descended down and after picking the fish in it’s beak tried to fly away.But,as the fish was a large one, the hawk could not hold it for too long.As a result,the hawk fell on the ground being unable to bear the weight of the fish.But amazingly,the hawk turned into a handsome prince as soon as it touched the ground.”
“In the meantime,the fisherman’s wife arrived there carrying some meat-pieces in her hand.A kite,which was flying in the sky tried to snatch those meat-pieces.Seeing this,the fisherman killed that kite with one shot of his arrow.In course of time,the kite took rebirth as a princess of Chandrapur.She was extremely beautiful but hated men.Similarly,the fish was reborn as a prince.As the destiny would have liked it,both of them got married.There was a dramatic change in the attitude of the princess after the marriage as she no longer hated men.On the contrary,she loved her husband so much that she dreaded the thought of separation for even a moment.”
“One day,the prince had a severe headache which showed no sign of subsiding.The princess became very worried and summoned the royal physician.The physician left no stone unturned to cure his royal physician but without any success.Somehow,the prince remembered everything about his previous birth and had a firm belief that he would be cured of his illness once he reached Kokamukh-the sacrosanct place of pilgrimage. So he decided to go there accompanied by the princess.”
“Both of them reached a place at Kokamukh where they saw the remains(skeleton)of a fish lying on the ground.The prince revealed to his wife that he was a fish in his previous birth and that the skeleton was his.Then he went on to describe the cause of his headache which according to him was due to the injury sustained in his past birth when he had been badly mauled by a hawk.The princess was aware of her past birth as a kite,so she revealed how she had been killed by a fisherman in her previous birth.She also told her husband -‘Dying at Kokamukh in my previous birth prove to be a blessing to me as I was reborn as a princess.Had it not been so,I would certainly have not born as a princess.” “Both of them worshipped lord vishnu and as a result the prince was cured of his severe headache.Such is the greatness of Kokamukh-the reliever of all pains and miseries.”1
MAYAPURI (HARIDWAR)
Narrating about the sanctity of Mayapuri,lord Varah told Prithvi- “There lived a brahmin named Somsharma at Mayapuri.He was a great devotee of mine(lord sri Hari)and had an impossible desire of witnessing my divine powers by his mortal eyes.
“Unfortunately,he forgot everything about his vow once he took rebirth as a girl.In course of time,the girl grew up and married a young nishad.She had many children from him.One day,the nishad girl who in reality was Somsharma,went to take a bath in the holy Ganges.As soon as she entered into the river,she got transformed into a hermit.She was filled with extreme bewilderment but this was not the end,as there were more surprises to come.”
“The hermit(previously nishad and originally Somsharma)came out of thr river and looked all around in amazement.He then sat down to meditate and very soon he was engrossed in his meditation.In the evening,some sages arrived and said-‘Sir! how come you are sitting here?You had gone to take a bath.We became anxious and started searching for you when you did not return till evening.” “The hermit was bewildered by the turn of events as he was aware of every incident that had occured.He was also well aware that he had spent fifty years as nishad-woman but according to the statements of hermits he had been absent only for few hours.The hermit was totally confused about his real identity.I(lord Varah) felt pity on his miserable condition and decided to lift my magic spell.I asked him whether his wish of witnessing my divine powers had been fulfilled or not.The hermit eulogized me and agreed that it was impossible for any mortal to understand the ways of Aimighty.I then blessed him and transformed him into Somsharma once again.”
Such is the grandeur of Mayapuri-the sacrosanct place where lord sri Hari has manifested his divine powers.A devotee who goes on a pilgrimage to Mayapuri never gets entangeled in the worldly illusions.
KUBJAAMRAK TEERTH (HRISHIKESH)
Describing how Kubjaamrak teerth derived it’s name,lord Varah told Prithvi-“In satyayuga,at the time when the earth was still submerged in water,I had killed two mighty demons named Madhu and Kaitabh.After killing both the demons I looked all around and found sage Raimya engrossed in his penance.Sage Raimya was a great devotee of mine.
I was extremely impressed and watched him hiding myself behind a mango tree.The mango tree could not bear the weight of my hands and became curved.This is how Kubjaamrak teerth derived it’s name.Very soon,sage Raimya found out that I was hiding behind that mango tree.He eulogized me and requested me to to grant a special status to Kubjaamrak teerth among all the holy places.I blessed him and thus Kubjaamrak teerth became one of the holiest places.There are several other holy places situated in the vicinity of Kubjaamrak teerth-Manas-teerth,Maya-teerth,Sarvakamik- teerth,Purnamukh teerth,Agni-teerth,Shukra-terth,Manasar teerth,Sapta samudrak-teerth,etc.All these holy places including Kubjaamrak teerth are capable of giving salvation to a man.”
BADRIKASHRAM
Continuing with his tale,lord Varah told Prithvi-“There is a sacred place in the Himalayas which is very inaccessible.It is famously known as Badrikashram and holds an important place among all the holy places.One who makes a pilgrimage to that place gets all his wishes fulfilled.There is a reservoir at the mountain top called Brahma kund.One who observes fast for three consecutive nights and takes a holy dip in that reservoir attains virtues similar to “Agnishtom yagya”.One who takes his last birth in it’s vicinity certainly attains to my abode.There are several other holy places in the vicinity of Badrikashram like Agnisatya pad, Indra loka,Satya loka,Chatuhsrota,Ved dhar,etc.Ved dhar is the same place where the vedas had manifested from lord Brahma’s mouth.
MANDAR TEERTH
Mandar teerth is named after a celestial tree called Mandar.This sacred place of pilgrimage is situated at the foothills of vindhya mountain.There is a large mandar tree overthere which has some unique qualities.This tree is visible only on auspicious days of dwadashi and chaturdashi and becomes invisible on the rest of the days.Some other holy places situated in the vicinity of mandar teerth are Prapan,Modan,Baikunthkaran,etc.
There is another holy place called mandar but it is situated on the Meru mountain.This holy place is also known as’Syamantpanchak’One important characteristic of this holy place is that there are huge rocks resembling a mace,a wheel,a plough and a conch.
SOMESHWAR LINGA
Chandra deva had once performed an austere penance to get absolved from the curse of his Daksha Prajapati his father-in-law.During the course of his penance Chandra deva made a shiva linga and worshipped it.Finally lord Shiva appeared and agreed to dwell in that particular shiva linga as per the request of Chandra deva. There is a reservoir situated to the south of Someshwar temple which is believed to liberate a man from all his sins.In course of time this place became famous as Someshwar linga.
SHALGRAM KSHETRA
Prithvi requested lord Varah to shed light on the famous penance which sage Shalankayan had performed.Lord Varah narrated the following tale-“Long long ago sage Shalankayan did an austere penance to please me(lord Vishnu).There was a ‘sal’ tree nearby and the sage was ignorant of the fact that I dwell in that sacred tree.When I appeared,he requested me to bless him with a divine son who had qualities like lord Shiva.I revealed to him that his son(Nandikeshwar)had already manifested and was presently staying at ‘Vraja'(Mathura).I also revealed to him that although I was present in the ‘sal’ tree but he was unware of this fact because of his ignorance.In course of time,this very place became famous as ‘Shalgram teerth’.A devotee who makes a pilgrimage to this holy place is liberated from all kinds of worldly bondages.”
