Overwhelmed by ceaseless suffering and sorrow, tormented day and night by the weight of his misdeeds, Dhṛṣṭabuddhi once found himself drawn by the force of his remaining merit to the hermitage of the sage Kaundinya. It was the month of Mādhava, and as he approached, he saw the sage, freshly bathed in the sacred waters of the Ganges, radiant and serene, while he himself was bowed under the heavy burden of grief. As fate would have it, a single drop of water from the sage’s garment touched Dhṛṣṭabuddhi. In that instant, his accumulated sins and misfortunes were dissolved. Standing before the venerable Kaundinya, hands joined in reverence, Dhṛṣṭabuddhi spoke humbly: “O best of Brahmins, please show me compassion. Tell me, by what power of merit may one attain liberation?” Kaundinya, moved by his plea, replied, “Listen with a focused mind to that which destroys all sins. In the bright fortnight of the month of Vaiśākha, there is a renowned Ekādaśī called Mohinī. If you observe the vow of Ekādaśī on that day, as I instruct you, even sins as great as Mount Meru will be destroyed for embodied beings. The Mohinī vow, when properly observed, destroys sins accumulated over many births.” Hearing these words, Dhṛṣṭabuddhi’s heart found peace. He followed Kaundinya’s instructions and performed the Mohinī Ekādaśī vow with devotion. When the vow was completed, he was freed from all sin. Then, by divine grace, he attained a celestial body, mounted Garuḍa, and ascended to the world of Viṣṇu, forever free from affliction. Thus, O Rāma, the Mohinī vow is supreme; in all the three worlds, among all beings—moving and unmoving—there is nothing greater. Sacrifices, pilgrimages, and gifts do not equal even a sixteenth part of its merit. Simply by reciting or hearing of this vow, one attains the fruit of gifting a thousand cows. Here ends the forty-ninth chapter, named “Mohinī Ekādaśī of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha,” from the dialogue between Umāpati and Nārada, in the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Padma Mahāpurāṇa. Later, Nārada approached Mahādeva with another earnest question: “O best of gods, teach me the worship of Yama. How can a man avoid going to another hell, O Lord? It is said that in Yama’s realm flows the dreadful river Vaitaraṇī—impossible to approach, boundless, filled with blood, and difficult to cross. How can one cross it easily? This is my great fear, O Mahādeva; please, out of compassion, tell me what should be done for liberation from this fate.” Mahādeva replied, “Once, O brāhmaṇa, I bathed in the salt ocean at Dvāravatī. There, I saw the sage Mudgala approaching, shining like a blazing sun, his body radiant from austerity. Bowing to me, the sage, filled with wonder, spoke: ‘O Lord, I suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground. My limbs burned, and I was seized by Yama’s attendants. Dragged by force, my form shrank to the size of a thumb, tightly bound by Yama’s guards, and I was led before the Lord of Death. In the assembly, I saw Yama himself—tawny-eyed, dark-faced, exceedingly terrible, surrounded by hundreds of forms of disease and death: emaciation, fever, pain, eruptions, wasting, burning, agony, tumors, ulcers, and afflictions of every kind. Spirits, thieves, and demons stood with skulls and severed heads, amidst tigers, lions, boars, serpents, scorpions, insects, wolves, jackals, and more—each a terrifying sight. ‘Yama shone in his dreadful assembly, attended by fierce and fearless enforcers, rulers over those who commit evil, surrounded by their retinues—like a mountain encircled by venomous creatures. Then the Lord addressed his servants: “Why have you brought here, by mistake, the sage Mudgala, son of Bhima, a Kshatriya from the village of Kaundinya? He is a Kshatriya whose lifespan is not yet complete; he was to be brought later. Release him now.” Hearing this, they departed and returned again. ‘The servants spoke to Yama: “When we went there, we did not find the embodied one whose life was exhausted.” Yama then asked, “Why do you rarely see such people? The river Vaitaraṇī is renowned for those who have performed meritorious acts on the twelfth lunar day. Those who die at Ujjayini, Prayaga, or on the Yamuna, who have given sesame, gold, or performed the daily cow-offering, are not found by you.” ‘The messengers then asked: “O Brahman, tell us in full: what is that vow? What must men do to please you, O god? By which vow, performed on the dark fortnight’s twelfth day and by fasting, is one freed from sin? How should this vow be performed? Please speak with compassion.” ‘To this, I replied: “O messengers, I will tell you everything as I have seen and heard.”’ Yama himself declared: “In the months beginning with Mārgaśīrṣa, on the dark fortnights, the Vaitaraṇī vow should be properly observed on the earlier days, O messengers.” Thus, the sages and gods revealed the profound power of vows and righteous acts to liberate souls from the bondage of sin and the terrors of the afterlife, showing the path to ultimate freedom and divine grace.