Shloka 68
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
तीर्थानां चैव पुण्यानां देशानां चैव कीर्तनम् । नदीनां पर्वतानां च वनानां सागरस्य च,लोकपावन तीर्थों, देशों, नदियों, पर्वतों, वनों और समुद्रका भी इसमें वर्णन किया गया है
tīrthānāṁ caiva puṇyānāṁ deśānāṁ caiva kīrtanam | nadīnāṁ parvatānāṁ ca vanānāṁ sāgarasya ca ||
ويشتمل كذلك على ذكر مواطن الحجّ المقدّسة (التيرثا) وسائر المواضع الطاهرة، وعلى وصف الأقاليم—بأنهارها وجبالها وغاباتها والمحيط. وهكذا يقدّم الكتاب مسحًا للأرض يطهّر العالم ويُقدّس جغرافيته، موجّهًا السامع إلى الكسب الروحي وإجلال الأماكن المقدّسة.
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s role as a world-purifying guide: by recounting holy tīrthas and the sacred landscape (lands, rivers, mountains, forests, ocean), it encourages reverence for sanctifying places and the pursuit of puṇya through remembrance and pilgrimage-oriented dharma.
In the opening catalog of contents (Anukramaṇikā/Parva-saṅgraha), the text lists what the Mahābhārata includes. Here it specifies that descriptions of sacred tīrthas and the broader geography—regions and natural features—are among the subjects narrated in the epic.