Absorbed in deep thought and sighing repeatedly, Rāma sat alone, his heart heavy with sorrow. At that very moment, the Rākṣasas who dwelled in Laṅkā arrived. Along with them came Sugrīva, Hanumān, Aṅgada, Jāmbavān, and all the other Vānaras, led by the noble Vibhīṣaṇa. They approached the king, who was seated upon his throne, but as they looked around, Hanumān and Aṅgada, adorned with golden armlets, became troubled—for Sītā was nowhere to be seen. Perplexed, they asked, “Where has Mother Sītā, born of the earth, gone? Only Rāma is here.” The gatekeepers answered, “She has been abandoned by Rāma.” As the guardians of the worlds looked on and the noble lady was spoken of, Sītā entered the fire to prove her purity, but Rāma remained unmoved, his heart still unrestrained. Because of the harsh words spoken among the people, Rāma had abandoned his beloved Sītā. Overcome with grief, the companions said, “Let us die,” and returned again to the banks of the sacred river Gautamī. Rāma, together with the citizens of Ayodhyā, approached Sītā and his brother, and upon arriving at Gautamī, they all engaged in the highest austerities. Time and again, remembering Sītā, the mother of the world, they sighed and longed for her, giving up all attachment to worldly existence and seeking only to serve Gautamī. Rāma, lord of the three worlds, arrived with his brother, and after bathing in the Gautamī, devoted himself to the worship of Śiva. Surrounded by thousands, Rāma cast off all sorrow. The place where this great event occurred became known as Sahasrakuṇḍa. There, ten other holy sites are found, each bestowing every desired result; those who bathe and give gifts there receive a thousandfold reward. Upon the sacred bank of the Gautamī, the great sages, beginning with Vasiṣṭha, performed a sacrifice that destroys all sin and delivers one from every calamity. In the thousand pools there, by the grace of the earth, that great ascetic obtained all his desires. By the favor of the river Gautamī, destroyer of Rākṣasas, the holy place Sahasrakuṇḍa became supremely meritorious. This site is also known as the Kapila Tīrtha, remembered as Aṅgirasa, called Āditya, and said to be Saiṃhikeyam. On the southern bank of the Gautamī, O best of sages, the sage Aṅgiras performed sacrifices to the Ādityas, who in turn gave him the southern land as a gift. But after the Ādityas departed for their austerities, that land, becoming Saiṃhikī, began to devour all people. The frightened inhabitants reported this to Aṅgiras, having learned that the land itself was Saiṃhikī. The Angirases, following the Ādityas, said, “Let them take back the land that was given.” But the Ādityas replied, “No.” The wise do not accept land that has once been given back, whether by themselves or another; whoever seizes such land, whether it was self-given or given by another, is reborn as a worm in excrement for sixty thousand years. There is no greater sin than this. Thus, the gods said, “There is great and terrible sin in this, so we will not accept it again. If this is so for land given by oneself, what then of land given by another?” However, they agreed to accept the land in exchange for a purchase. When this was settled, the gods gave a Kapila cow of auspicious marks on the southern bank of the Ganga, at that very place. There, Viṣṇu himself, in embodied form, stands, granting both enjoyment and liberation. At that confluence with the Kapila cow, all heaps of sin are destroyed. From the waters of the gift, a river arose, called Kapila. By the gift of land, even from fertile earth, the gift of a cow is considered supreme. The sage, having made the exchange, accomplished the protection of the world. Where this event took place is called Gotirtha, a site of a hundred holy places, each bestowing merit. By bathing and giving gifts there, one attains the fruit of giving land itself. That confluence with the Ganga is known as the Kapila confluence. There is also a holy place called Shankhahraḍa, where Viṣṇu, the bearer of the conch and mace, resides. Bathing there and beholding him frees one from the bonds of worldly existence. Let me recount an event that bestows both enjoyment and liberation: In the beginning of the Krita Yuga, the Sama-chanters for Brahmā—Rākṣasas of many forms, born from the cosmic egg—came, intoxicated with power and armed, to devour Brahmā. Then I spoke to Viṣṇu, the teacher of the world, for protection. Viṣṇu, ready to destroy the Rākṣasas, took up his discus and, cutting them down, filled the conch. Having made the earth free of thorns and heaven free of enmity, Hari rejoiced and filled the conch again. Thus, all the Rākṣasas were completely destroyed. The place where all this occurred, by the power of Viṣṇu’s conch, is called Shankhatīrtha, bringing all welfare to people. It grants all desires, is meritorious and auspicious, bestows long life and health, and increases wealth and sons. By remembering or reciting it, one attains all desires; there, O sage, it is equal to ten thousand sacred places and removes all sins. The sacred places, numbering ten thousand, are destroyers of all sins, their power known and spoken of by Maheśvara himself. Truly, there is no other means of destroying sin equal to these anywhere. There is also the holy place called Kiṣkindhā, said to grant all desires to people; it brings about the pacification of all sins, for there Bhava himself is present.