In the sacred dialogue between Umāpati and Nārada, it is revealed that the merit gained from sacrifices, pilgrimages, and charitable gifts cannot compare—even to a sixteenth part—with the fruits obtained by reciting or hearing these holy teachings. Such recitation bestows blessings equivalent to the gift of a thousand cows. With the forty-ninth chapter concluded, named 'Mohinī Ekādaśī of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha,' the conversation continues in the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the Padma Mahāpurāṇa, a scripture comprising fifty-five thousand verses. Nārada, ever eager for wisdom, approaches Mahādeva with a heartfelt plea: “O best of gods, please tell me the worship of Yama, that I might avoid the torments of hell. It is said that in Yama’s realm flows the river Vaitaraṇī—boundless, impossible to approach, filled with blood, and exceedingly difficult for all beings to cross. This river fills me with great fear, O Lord. Out of compassion, please instruct me fully on what must be done for liberation from this dreadful fate.” Mahādeva begins his reply by recounting a personal experience. “Once, O brāhmaṇa, I bathed in the salt ocean at Dvāravatī. There, I saw the sage Mudgala approaching, his body radiant from austerity, shining like the blazing sun. Mudgala bowed to me, filled with wonder, and 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, I shrank to the size of a thumb, tightly bound by Yama’s guards, and led before the Lord of Death. In a moment, I found myself in Yama’s assembly, confronted by his tawny eyes and dark, terrifying countenance, surrounded by hundreds of diseases and death. Attending him were beings embodying the faults of wind, bile, and phlegm—emaciation, fever, afflictions, eruptions, wasting diseases, burning, body pain, head agony, fistula, loss of strength, throat tumors, eye diseases, painful urination, fever, ulcers, fainting, throat constriction, heart diseases, spirits, thieves, and many fierce, terrifying forms. Skulls, severed heads, and hands littered the hellish battlefield, dreadful demons and rākṣasas stood and sat before me. Officers of justice, scribes like Citragupta, tigers, lions, boars, hair-tufted serpents, scorpions, fanged spirits, insects, beetles, wolves, strange dogs, herons, vultures, jackals, thieves, spirits of poverty, Māras, witches, wild-haired beings, those afflicted with asthma and cough, frowning, with crooked faces—all these filled the assembly. Yama shone amidst formidable and fearless enforcers, rulers over those who commit evil deeds, surrounded by their retinues, as fierce as wild forest-dwellers, like a mountain encircled by venomous creatures. Then, the Lord of all addressed his servants: ‘How is it that you brought here, by mistaken identity, the sage Mudgala, son of Bhima, a Kshatriya from the village of Kaundinya? He is a Kshatriya whose lifespan is not yet exhausted; release him at once.’ Having heard this, the servants departed and returned again, reporting to Yama: ‘When we went there, we did not find the embodied one with his life exhausted.’ Yama replied: ‘Why is it that such people are mostly unseen by you? 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 banks of the Yamuna, who have given gifts of sesame, gold, and other offerings, or who have performed the daily cow-offering—these souls are protected.’ The messengers then asked: ‘O Brahman, kindly tell us in full—what is this vow? What must men do to please you, O god? By which vow, performed on the twelfth day of the dark fortnight and by fasting, is one freed from sin? What is the proper procedure? Please speak with a gracious mind, O ocean of compassion.’ Sri Mudgala responded sweetly: ‘O messengers, I will tell you everything as I have seen and heard.’ Yama instructed: ‘In the months beginning with Margashirsha, on the dark fortnights, the Vaitaraṇī vow should be properly observed on the earlier days, O messengers. It must be performed every month, steadily, for a year. By performing this vow, one is surely liberated—there is no doubt. The observance of fasting must be maintained, which brings satisfaction to Vishnu. “Today, O Lord of gods, my fast will take place.” On the twelfth day, Govinda should be worshipped with devotion. If, due to dream or disturbances of the senses, there is eating or intercourse, pray to the god for forgiveness and mercy. After observing the rule, one should go to a sacred place at midday, taking clay, cow dung, and sesame, and proceed according to the prescribed method. There, one should bathe for the completion of the vow. With the mantra “aśvakrānta,” the bath should be performed: “O earth trodden by horses, by chariots, by Vishnu, O Vasundhara—O earth, remove the sin that I have accumulated in the past; by destroying that sin with you, one is freed from all sins.” Sesame seeds that arise in Kashi are indeed of the form of Vishnu; by bathing with sesame, Govinda removes all sin. O goddess, born from the body of Vishnu, remover of great sins, take away all sin—I bow to you on behalf of all. Holding a leaf of tulasi and reciting the names beforehand, the bath should be performed with proper procedure as taught by the virtuous.’ Thus, Mahādeva revealed the path by which one may escape the terrors of Yama’s realm and cross the dreadful river Vaitaraṇī, through the observance of the sacred vow, devotion to Govinda, and the purifying ritual bath.