The Lord Has Blessed Only India With So Many Holy Teerthas

Geo-science has measured that the surface area of earth is 51,01,500 sq km.
Shiva Purana also says that the surface area of earth is 50 crores yojanas.
Isn't it surprising?

Lord Shiva is so kind that He wanted people to earn punya by doing virtuous acts wherever they lived. He didn’t want that it should be all centred at one place — that you all come to Kailasa, then only you will get punya. He made special places, holy places all over, so that people can engage in virtuous activities without having to travel far.

These places are called teerthas or kshetras. Most of them will be associated with holy rivers, because water is all-purifying.

Do you know why water purifies? Of course, externally you can see that water washes away dirt — this we can see, it is not a theory — but internally also. Because papa is incurred when you do something, when you act. Action is there only in the created world. Before creation, it is water everywhere. So taking a dip in water is like dissolving back into water whatever you have created — the sin, the papa — it is like dissolving salt into water.

These holy places are blessed places. They have been blessed by the Lord with special powers.

There is something special about our land Bharata. This is the only place on earth where you can earn punya by striving for it. That is why all the holy places are in Bharata only. There is no point in making a river outside Bharata holy.

Bath taken in the Nile or Missouri, Mississippi can wash away external dirt, but not internal impurity. That power only the rivers in India have got. Because the Lord has blessed only places and rivers in India with this power.

Imagine a person living in a big desert. There is nothing for thousands of miles around him. It is just him and his hut. No restaurants, no vehicles, no cinema halls, nothing. Is there a point in giving him a crore of rupees? How will he spend? That’s why the Lord did not bless the other places on earth with such powers.

Only Bharata Varsha is the karma bhumi. Only karma done here earns punya or papa — both. That’s why teerthas exist only in Bharata Varsha.

When someone does virtuous acts in Bharata, he goes to good worlds and enjoys their results. Once the punya is exhausted, he again takes birth in Bharata only. If he does bad things here, he suffers in Naraka. Duration depends on what he has done.

We will see about some of these holy places now.

Both Sindhu and Satlaj are holy rivers. There are hundreds of holy places on their banks. River Saraswathy has got 60 branches — one we know appears from below earth in Triveni Sangam, there is one in Haryana originating from Adi Badri. Like that, there are 60 branches of Saraswathy. They are all holy.

Ganga has got 100 branches. Kashi, Prayag — they are all famous places on the banks of Ganga.
River Son has got 10 branches.
Narmada has got 24 branches.
Godavari has got 21 branches.

Dip in all these rivers or living near them can get you to great lokas like Brahma Loka, Vishnu Loka, Indra Loka, Rudra Loka. Tamasa, Reva, Krishna, Kaveri, Swarnamukhi, Pampa — so many of them.

There are two holy rivers in Tamil Nadu particularly connected to Lord Shiva — Tamraparni and Vegavati. There are so many great Shiva temples on their banks and the land between them.

For certain teerthas, particular months of the year are important.
Month means when Surya is in a particular rashi.
Also when Brihaspati or Jupiter comes to these rashis, the corresponding teerthas assume more holiness, more importance. That will be a one-year period and would come once in 12 years.

• For Mesha – Badarikashrama and Naimisharanya

• Karka and Simha – for taking dip in Sindhu and also Kedar Teertha

• Simha masa – for Godavari

• Kanya – for Yamuna and Son

• Tula – for Kaveri

• Vrischika – for Narmada

• Dhanus – for Swarnamukhi

• Makara and Kumbha – for Ganga

The banks of Ganga are particularly important for pitru karya during the lunar months of Magha and Phalguna.
Meena masa – River Krishna is holier.

Try to take advantage of these by visiting these places during these times.

There is one thing about staying at these places permanently. The slightest punya done here will be multiplied 1000 times. The slightest papa done here will be multiplied 1000 times.

So if you are living in these holy places, you have to be careful not to do any papa and keep on doing virtuous acts as much as possible.

पुण्यक्षेत्रे कृतं पुण्यं बहुधा ऋद्धिमृच्छति
पुण्यक्षेत्रे कृतं पापं महदप्यपि जायते

As you know, papa done with the mind goes away through meditation.
Papa done with words goes away with mantra japa.
Papa done with the body goes away by straining the body through acts such as upavasa.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi