Yudhishthira Advised to Visit Sacred Sites

The lake shone nearby, noisy with birds — the lake of the valorous one who had divided Mada and satisfied the gods. The speaker turned to Yudhishthira and gave him his instructions. "Together with your brothers, you must offer oblations to the ancestors and the gods there," he said. "Having seen this and Sikataksha, you should go to the Saindhava forest and see the streams there. Touch the water at all the pushkaras (sacred pools)." Then came Mount Archika — inhabited by the learned, always full of fruit and flowing streams. The winds made it the supreme of regions. Hundreds of sanctuaries constructed by the thirty gods stood there. This was the moon's tirtha (sacred water), worshipped by the rishis, the vaikhanasa rishis, and the valakhilyas. "There are three sacred peaks and three springs," the speaker said. "You can circumambulate them one by one and perform your ablutions, as you desire." The speaker named those who had come before: Shantanu, the Kuru king who had married the goddess Ganga. Shunaka, the sage. And both Nara and Narayana — the ancient twin sages who were the source of the eternal dharma. All of them had obtained the eternal regions here. "The gods and the ancestors always sleep with the maharshis (great sages) on Mount Archika and perform austerities there," the speaker said. "Worship them. The rishis prepared the charu (sacrificial offering) there." There was also the Yamuna with its eternal currents, where Krishna had engaged in austerities. The river was holy and banished fear of sin. Many sacrifices had been performed there by kings like Mandhata and Somaka Sahadeva. The instructions were clear: offer oblations, touch the waters, circumambulate the peaks, worship the gods and ancestors. This was the path that would bring Yudhishthira to the sacred sites where the great ones of the past had obtained their eternal regions.