in the kingdom of Vidarbha there lived a brahmana named Malava, who was highly devoted to Lord Vishnu. Once, he went to bathe in the River Godavari, taking with him a lot of gold to offer in charity to the brahmanas. While walking, he thought, "I will call for my sister's son, Pundarika, and give him half the gold. The rest 1 will give to other brahmanas."After Malava arrivied at the Godavari, Pundarika joined him. They bathed on a holy day, and then Malava gave half of his gold to Pundarika. Pundarika then gave one fourth of that gold to other brahmanas.
As Pundarika was returning home, he came upon his younger brother, Bharata, lying upon the ground, his body smeared with blood from his wounds. Crying aloud, Pundarkia asked, "What happened?
Why did you come here?"just at that time, Bharata died. Although he had committed sins, Bharata was placed upon a celestial chariot. He said, "Pundarika, due to the grace of this holy place, Pushkara, 1 am going to heaven. Let me tell you what sinful act I had performed. I used to enjoy with a prosti¬tute name Prabhavati, and I spent much money on liquor in her house. Whatever money I got by stealing, I spent in that way.""My dear brother, after you left for the Godavari, I heard that you were given a lot of gold by your uncle. I thus made up my mind to kill you and take the gold, so that I could please Prabhavati, and also gamble."
"However, as I was on my way to kill you, I met a caravan of merchants and slept with them that night. A thief came there but was caught. As he ran away, the guards chased him. I also ran after the thief, hoping to steal the wealth that he had taken from the mer¬chants. But, it so happened that one of the guards injured me, mistak¬ing me to be the thief. It is in that condition that you came and saw me."My dear brother, now I have told you my reason for coming here, and the cause of my premature death.Pundarika asked, "What pious act did you perform, so that you could die at this holy place?Bharata explained, "Once, after stealing some wealth, while re¬turning home, I saw a dead child in the market. Putting the body on my head, I went to the Ganga, performed the funeral ceremonies, burned the body, and then threw the ashes in the water. It is because of this that I have died in a holy place."Thereafter, Pundarika performed devotional service with the ex¬pectation that Lord Vishnu would come and dwell at his house, during the month of Magha. Pundarika celebrated a great festival, thinking that Lord Vishnu would come the next day. He fed two hundred brahmanas and satisfied them with nice gifts.That night, Pundarika stayed up all night, with his relatives, sing¬ing the glories of the Lord, to the accompaniment of musical instru¬ments. In the morning, he dismissed the musicians and waited for Lord Vishnu's arrival.It so happened that Lord Vishnu then came to Pundarika's house, just to fulfill the desire of His pure devotee. Pundarika quickly got up from his seat and offered his obeisances. Then, he worshiped the Lord very nicely. Afterwards, Pundarika offered prayers to the Lord. Indeed, the brahmana passed the entire month of Magha, worshiping Lord Vishnu. Finally, on the ful-moon day, he saw Garuda, who had come upon being remembered by the Lord.Lord Vishnu invited Pundarika to come with Him to Pushkara. Thus Lord Vishnu and Pundarika mounted upon Garuda and quickly travelled to that holy place. Immediately upon their arrival, a flash of light went out of Pundarika's body, along with his life-air, and entered the Lord's existence.
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