Shloka 150

युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya

Devanagari script

यत्र स्नात्वा कृतार्थो5स्मीत्यात्मानमवगच्छति । षष्ठकालोपवासेन मुच्यते ब्रह्म॒हत्यया,उसमें स्नान करके मनुष्य अपने-आपको कृतार्थ मानने लगता है। वहाँ रहकर छठे समय उपवास करनेसे मनुष्य ब्रह्महत्यासे छुटकारा पा जाता है

Transliteration

yatra snātvā kṛtārtho ’smīty ātmānam avagacchati | ṣaṣṭha-kālopavāsena mucyate brahmahatyayā ||

Translation

في ذلك الموضع المقدّس، إذا اغتسل المرء أدرك في باطنه: «لقد بلغت غايتي.» وبمراعاة الصوم في «الوقت السادس» على الوجه المقرّر وهو مقيم هناك، يُعتَق حتى من الخطيئة العظمى: برهمَهَتْيا (قتلُ براهمن).

Word by Word

यत्रwhere

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

कृतार्थःfulfilled, having attained one’s purpose

अस्मिI am

इतिthus

आत्मानम्oneself

अवगच्छतिunderstands, realizes

षष्ठकालोपवासेनby fasting at the sixth time/period

मुच्यतेis released, is freed

ब्रह्महत्ययाfrom the sin of brahmin-slaying

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

brahmahatyā (sin of brahmin-slaying)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that sacred bathing (snāna) combined with disciplined fasting (upavāsa) at a prescribed time functions as a powerful act of purification, capable of removing even extremely grave moral taints such as brahma-hatyā, emphasizing the ethical force of repentance and regulated religious practice.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker is describing the spiritual efficacy of a particular holy place: bathing there brings a sense of fulfilled purpose, and observing the specified fast while staying there is said to grant release from severe sin, as part of a broader tirtha-māhātmya (praise of pilgrimage sites) discourse in the Vana Parva.