Hearing the words of the Ādityas, the radiant deities of the Sun, the Earth herself listened with reverence. After the joys and sports of earthly life, it is said that one who follows their guidance ultimately relinquishes the life-breath and journeys to the divine world presided over by the Lord. Thus concludes the one hundred and fifty-sixth chapter in the glorious Varāha Purāṇa, within the section extolling the greatness of Mathurā, entitled 'The Manifestation of Mathurā.' Now begins the praise of bathing and related sacred acts at Malayārjuna and other holy tīrthas. O great sage, it is told that after crossing the Yamunā river at that very place, a peculiar event occurred—a cart was overturned, and the pots and jars of a humble hut were broken, marking the spot with a sign of divine play. On the twelfth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Jyeṣṭha, O Earth, those who bathe in the holy waters of the Yamunā, with senses well restrained and purified, become sanctified. Even those born in the lineage of the gods, when immersed in the waters of Kalindi, attain purity and mastery over their senses. The ancestors who have passed on to the other world always sing praises of such acts, declaring blessed the one who offers oblations in the sacred Yamunā. One who bathes there, O Devi, is honored in the realm of Rudra, and without doubt, attains the world of the Lord. Every day, the auspicious Ādityas are seen there, and freed from all sins, a man attains the radiant world of the Sun. Near the abode of the Sun stands a well with pure water. By bathing there, O Earth, one attains a dwelling where movement is at will, unhindered by earthly limitations. There is also a place called Virasthala, a secret and supreme field belonging to the Lord himself. He who bathes there and stays for a single night, O Earth, if he departs from life at that place, attains the world of the Lord. One who bathes there, O Devi, is honored in the realm of Brahma. These five sacred places are renowned as destroyers of great sins. Among them is the deity Gopīśvara, the destroyer of grave transgressions. It is there that Hari, the Supreme Lord, created forms of the gopis for divine play. At that time, the cart was broken, and the hut with its pots and jars was shattered, echoing the earlier event. Embracing the place with righteousness and skillfully concealing it by pretense, the Lord performed the consecration of the god, who was adorned in the attire of a cowherd. Bathed by the circle of cowherd women, he wore golden earrings and shone with celestial beauty. At this sacred spot, Mātali, the charioteer of the gods, installed and worshipped the lord of the cowherds. There is also a well called Saptasāmudrika, filled with pure water. By Mātali's devotion, seventy-seven lineages of ancestors were delivered, and his forebears were satisfied for countless hundreds of millions of years. If one dies in the midst of this sanctity, he attains the same realm as Indra, king of the gods. Likewise, those who aspire for Brahma's world may do so from the midst of the lord of cowherds. A man who performs these sacred acts delivers ten ancestors before and ten after himself, and when he relinquishes his life there, he goes to the world of the Lord. On the southern side of Mathurā lies the Phālgunaka field, an exceedingly rare and holy place. Whoever performs consecration there rejoices together with the gods. There is also Tālavana, guarded by the demon Dhenuka, a place of legendary significance. Thus, O Earth, are the sacred acts and holy places extolled, each bearing the promise of liberation, honor, and divine worlds for those who approach with reverence and purity.