Hrishikeshaya namah

Maharishi Nārada continued, “On these auspicious days the human being should perform meritorious deeds even if it is strenuous.”

In case it is not convenient for a person to perform auspicious deeds on all these days mentioned, then at least during the 9 days of Navaratri he should perform meritorious deeds so as to appease his forefathers. If the person is unable to afford the elaborate death ceremonies, then at least he should offer the food he eats as naivedya to his forefathers. In that harsh pitiable situation wherein he is deprived even of food, he should fold his hands and with dedication pray to them on that day. He should remember them.

“By worshipping fore-fathers, human life attains fulfilment. Bathing in holy rivers, performing japa, homa and other rituals, worshipping the Lord, conducting death ceremonies, offering food to Devatas, engaging in charitable deeds as well as feeding the animals- birds on auspicious days give unlimited good results (akshaya phala).

Charitable activities performed by a householder during pumsavana and other samskāra rituals conducted for his wife, during naming ceremony and other similar samskāra rituals conducted for his children, during thread ceremony and other auspicious rituals conducted, during funeral ceremonies, during annual death ceremonies for departed fore-fathers, and during other auspicious ceremonies, give unlimited auspicious results.

O King, I shall now detail those places where dharma (righteousness) resides.

Any place where a person, who has in him the worthiness to accept charity, resides is a very pure sacred place.

Temples, where idols of the Supreme Lord, who is the shelter for the entire moving and non-moving entities, are installed, are very sacred places.

Places where Brahmins who are overflowing with the qualities of penance (tapas), compassion (daya) and dedication (sraddha) reside are extremely auspicious places.

Yatra yatra harer arcā sa deśaḥ śreyasāṁ padam Yatra gaṅgādayo nadyaḥ purāṇeṣu ca viśrutāḥ

Every place where Lord Srihari is worshipped, and all the places where Ganga and other rivers which are extolled in the Puranas flow, are extremely auspicious places. They are the birthplaces for all auspiciousness!

Pushkara and other sacred lakes, the residences of spiritually accomplished saints and Siddhas, the sacred Kurukshetra, the sacred place called Gaya where the head of demon Gaya had fallen, Prayaga, Pulaha’s ashrama and Sālagrama kshetra are supremely auspicious places.

Naimiṣāraṇya, Phalguna kshetra, Setu-bandha, Prabhāsa kshetra, Dwaraka, Kashi, Mathura, Pampa sarovara, Bindu sarovara, Badarikāśrama, Alakananda and Chitrakoota which is the ashrama of Seeta- Rama, are pure sacred places.

The Kula-parvatas (auspicious mountains) of Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Shuktiman, Rkshavatu, Vindhya, Parijatra are very sacred places.

All the places where the idols of Srihari are duly worshipped, are very sacred. Hence the person who seeks auspiciousness should serve these sacred places again and again with absolute faith. The charities and rituals performed in these places bestow the person with more than a thousand times positive result.

O Dharmaraja! Learned Mahatmas who are exponents in the field of knowledge, have decisively concluded that the Supreme Lord Srihari, who pervades this entire universe comprising of moving and non-moving entities, is alone worthy of worship.

During your Rajasuya Yagna all the saints including me (Maharishi Nārada) the mind born son of Lord Brahma, all Devatas and accomplished Siddhas decided that the foremost worship (agra puja) should be offered to Lord Srikrishna alone.

For this vast tree called universal egg (Brahmanda) which is filled with living entities, Lord Achyuta (another name for Srihari) alone is the primordial cause. Hence, by worshipping Lord Achyuta, all the living entities obtain contentment.

This Supreme Lord has created innumerable bodies such as that of humans, birds, animals, Maharishis, Devatas and other living entities and within each of them He manifests as the individual soul. As He makes himself known through this gross body which is known as Pura, He is aptly addressed as Puruṣa. The differences between male and female are only for worldly transactional purposes. The same Lord pervades them both!

Although, the Supreme Lord exists within all living entities, there are differences in the degree of His consciousness (chaitanya) that manifests in each of them. Among all living entities, only the human being is most eligible to receive charities. Based on the blossoming of Spiritual Knowledge, which is a form of Pure Consciousness, the person’s eligibility and worthiness are determined.

During Treta and other Yugas (eons), traits of deceitfulness increased among humans. Maharishis who foresaw this determined that idols of the Supreme Lord should be installed and worshipped with devotion and dedication by the people. Despite dedicatedly worshipping the Lord, if they continue to despise other living beings, then their worship does not help them achieve the ultimate goal”.

On the one hand, the person hurls curses at other human beings while on the other, with great dedication he worships the idol. How can such worship ever be fruitful? No merit can be achieved through such worship.

Mahatmas have declared that learned Vedic Brahmin scholars are the most eligible to receive charities because the Brahmin, who is absolutely contented due to penance and other austerities, chants Vedas which is the form of the Supreme Lord Srihari. As he protects the Vedas, he is at par with the Supreme Lord. Even Krishna considers such Vedic Brahmins as worthy of worship. These Vedic Brahmin scholars can purify the three worlds with merely the dust from their feet”- said Maharishi Nārada.

With this the fourteenth chapter of the Seventh Canto comes to an end.

Haraye namah