31. तीर्थराजकृतस्नानः Tīrtha-rāja-kṛta-snānaḥ

One who took a holy dip in the king of sacred waters, Prayāga

In Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, is located the triveṇī-saṅgama, a prayāga or confluence of three of the most sacred rivers, Gaṅgā, Yamunā and the underground Sarasvatī. It is the tīrtha-rāja, king of sacred waters, for the scriptures associate immense sanctity to it and hail it as a great destroyer of sins. The Padma-purāṇa records Lord Śiva as saying, “Where the Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī are present is a divine place of pilgrimage and is difficult for even the Gods to attain. In all the three worlds, this kind of place never was nor will ever be. This place, called Prayāga, is unsurpassed among sacred places.”⁹³ The Mahābhārata says, “O King! Prayāga is the greatest among places of pilgrimage. One is freed from sins by (even) listening to its glories, singing its name, or smearing the soil from it on one’s body.”⁹⁴ His Holiness was kṛta-snāna, One who took a dip, in this tīrtha-rāja.

❧

His Holiness arrived in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) for the first time on 3^rd May, 1967. Early in the morning of the 4^th, His Holiness went to the triveṇi-saṅgama and took a holy dip there. He worshipped the akṣaya-vaṭa-vṛkṣa, sacred banyan tree, Goddess Sarasvatī and other deities. Then He gave away gifts to the priests assembled. On 18^th January, 1977, His Holiness again visited Prayagraj in the course of His tour. The kumbhamelā was being celebrated there, with close to 15 million people thronging the place. The special features of the kumbhamelā this time was that the Pīṭhādhipatis of all the four Āmnāya-pīṭhas had converged at the holy place. On 19^th January, 1977, the sacred mouni-amāvāsyā day, the Jagadgurus had a holy bath at 5 a.m. in the Prayāga. His Holiness’s third visit to Prayagraj was in May, 1977 and the fourth in September, 1982.

❧