Oppliappan sthalapurAnam - chapter 9 concluding chapter

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ShrI BhoomidevI sameta ShrInivAsparabrahmaNe namaH

Chapter 9

Brahma continued:

" Once Brahma, who is the chief of Satyaloka, came to the earth to

Akaashanagaram (the best among kshetrams), with all the other devAs,

gandharavAs, apsarAs, yakshAs and kinnarAs to worship Hari. With deep

devotion, he praised the merciful ShriniVAsa and Bhoomi devI with

superior vedavAkhyAs.

" Salutations to you, oh Lord, who is the embodiment of countless

auspicious qualities. All the important devas like Svayambhu and Shiva

worship you. You are the creator and protector of the whole universe.

You have thousand heads, thousand eyes, two thousand arms and two

thousand feet. The Sun and Moon are your eyes and Agni is your face

and the winds are your ears. Even the Vedas return, failing to reach

Him even with their thoughts and He is all bliss and happiness. He is

the Brahman. I prostrate before this ShriHari. You are the remover

of all bondage and You are far from all that is not good,and You are

the emperor of all the Bhagavathas. Salutations to you Oh ShrIniVasa!"

Having spoken thus, he went around Hari in PradakshiNam with all the

Devas and requested Him to grant permission to perform celebrations.

Having received His consent, Brahma performed Utsavam for nine days

and did "avabhritasnaanam" in the ahorAtrapushkariNI with all the

rishis and devAs. He presented everyone who had come to see the

Utsavam with tasty feasts, rich clothes, jewels, etc. All the dEvas

returned to their abodes after taking leave from Brahma.

"He Narada! Even today, Brahma comes here with all the celestial

beings during the waxing of moon in the month of Aippasi, and performs

Utsavam. Similarly Brahma comes during the month of Panguni and

hoists the Utsava flag on the day of the star chithrai. He then

performs the festival according to VaikhAnasa rules with pomp and

splendour with all the Mangala vadhyams amid vedic chanting for nine

days; and after the day of the chariot, bathes in AhorAthrapushkariNi

as "avabhrithsnaanam" on the sacred day of shravana and ekadashi.

Hence there is no kshetram that equals this kshetram- there has never

been and there never will be!

"A person who takes even one step to go to Akaashanagaram is a

celestial being and this is the absolute truth. There is no doubt

about this. Hari came from the sky to this kshetram that manifested,

so this kshetram is called `AkAshanagarI'. After seeing this

AkAshanagarI, a person will not be born again. It is known as

"MaAkanDeyasthalam" because of MArkanDeyA's penance; and it is also

known as `TuLasIvanam' because of TuLasIdevi's penance. A person

becomes the king of devas if he worships the Lord in AkAshangarI with

bunches of TuLasI for a minute - or even for half a minute.

"Listen to me Narada! I will tell you the guidelines for bathing in

the theerthams. If someone even thinks about this, he will not be

bothered by Mrithyu. AhorAthra pushkariNi is towards the northeast of

ShrInivAsa and pushkariNi gives the benefits for bathing night and

day. This pushkariNI is a destroyer of all sins including brhamahatyA

and drinking wine and gives the results of performing one lakh

paundrikA yagas. Bathing in this pond on full moon day, new moon day

and eclipses of the sun and moon destroys the sins committed in crores

of lives. Bathing here on New Year's Day (Indian calendar),

sankranthi, and the days of the parents destroys the sins of many

brahmahatyAs.

"Once there was a man called Devasharma who was a descendant of

Bharadhwaja lineage and was an expert in all the shastras. He saw

Jaimini's daughter who was picking flowers in the garden. He was

overcome by Manmathan and misbehaved with her. She called out to her

father, who came running and cursed Devasharma thus: " You will

become a krauncha bird now!" Devasharma was very sorry and he prayed

to the rishi and was told by him "Go to MArkanDeyakshetram and live on

the branch of a tree. After a few days, there will be strong winds;

and the branch will fall into the AhorAtrapushkariNi and you will be

purified by its waters, there is no other alternative".

At that same instant, Devasharma became a krauncha bird on the branch

of a tree on the bank of the AhorAtrapushkariNi. After time had

passed, the branch on which he lived broke due to powerful winds and

fell in the water of the pushkariNi at midnight. As soon as he got

wet with the drops of water, he took his original form, and climbed

onto a decorated airship, and started to fly to VaikunTam. Then,

Varuna's followers stopped him and asked him "Where are you going? You

were in the water at night – and those who bathe in the water after

one yamam should be punished. You fell in this water at midnight and

how can you go in this wonderful vehicle to Vishnu's abode?" Hearing

this, Vishnu's messengesr laughed at them said "This

AhorAtrapushkariNi gives benefits night and day. Without knowing the

fine points of dharma, you are speaking. If you have any doubts, go

and ask VAruna himself!" So saying they went to VaikunTam.

From then onwards, that pond is known as AhoRatrapushkarinI. By

bathing in this pushkarinI, one attains VaikunTam. There is a TuLasi

tree on the eastern bank of this pond. After doing AshtAkshara mantram

under this tree, if someone gives TAmboolam, Kanya, a cow that gives

milk, along with money, he will attain VaikunTam, free of all sins.

On bathing here on Saturdays, Fridays, Tuesdays, on the

janmanakshatram and on the day of ShravaNanakshatram, one is cleansed

of all sins.

"There is a teertham called `shArngateertham' to the southwest of

that Lord. If someone even thinks of this teertham he will be freed

of all sins, and what can be said about the results of bathing in this

pond? Endless wealth is attained by just seeing this theertham and

this gives many times more benefits than bathing in DanyshkoTi.

To the north, there is another teertham called `Suryateertham'. By

seeing, listening and just thinking about this theertham, a person can

attain moksham. Once, Shiva cut off Brahma's head and went to all the

kshetrams and bathed to get rid of that sin. But this did not happen.

Then, he reached the Lord in AkAshanagaram and became pure by bathing

in this Suryatheertham. He also became very bright (kAnti) and even

today, he does penance on the bank of this Suryateertham. As Surya

renovated this very sacred teertham, it is called suryateertham.

Thirtythree crore Devas, bathe here everyday. Those who cannot bathe

here everyday, should bathe for three months. If someone is not able

to do that, he should bathe here during the month of Karthikai. If

that is also not possible, he should bathe here on a Sunday of the

month of Karthikai. Then he will be free of five sins and will become

a king just by bathing in this teertham on Sunday. By bathing here on

a Monday, he becomes the king of seven islands, there is no doubt

about this. He will become Indra by bathing here on a Tuesday and

will become Brahma by bathing on a Wednesday. By bathing on a

Thursday, one can attain moksham and will not be reborn. After killing

Daksha, Shiva washed his tresses of hair here on a Sunday of the month

of Karthikai. After bathing here, wheat or fruit should be given as

donation with great devotion. Bathing here and not worshipping

ShrInivAsan begets a person all sins and lands him in the hell called

Rauravam. Hence one should bathe here and worship ShrinivAsan.

There is a teertham called Indrateertham to the northeast of Lord

ShrInivAsa. One who bathes here with devotion gets all the benefits

of performing all yagyas. Long back, Indra bathed in this teertham and

was freed of the papam of befriending Ahalya.

Then to the south there is the Brahmateertham. By just looking at

this, it is possible to get all knowledge and bathing here gives the

quality of Brahma. Brahma became the chief of Satyalokam by bathing

here. One who bathes in this teertham will get all his wishes fulfilled.

This is the sacred history of the five teertham, Oh Narada! This is a

well guarded secret!

Such is the glory of VAsudevan. The sacred story of

MarkanDeyakshetram purifies everyone who listens to it. There is no

doubt about this. This is sung and read by rishis and people with

great devotion. One who wakes up in the early hours of the morning

and reads this, becomes worthy of attaining dharamam, artham, kamam

and moksham. The home that houses this pure PuraNam is equal to

Kurkshetram and there is no doubt about this. The person who relates

this purANam should be honoured with clothes and jewels. There is no

doubt that ShrInivAsan will protect him. Those who listen to this

puraNam will achieve all kinds of prosperity and MangaLam.

ShrI BhoomidevI sameta ShrInivAsparabrahmaNe namaH

SthalapuRaNam is concluded