Shloka 45
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
प्रभासं मानसं तीर्थ पुष्कराणि महत्सर: । पुण्यं च नैमिषं तीर्थ बाहुदां करतोयिनीम्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | prabhāsaṁ mānasaṁ tīrthaṁ puṣkarāṇi mahatsaraḥ | puṇyaṁ ca naimiṣaṁ tīrthaṁ bāhudāṁ karatoyinīm ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „(Berichte mir von) Prabhāsa, dem tīrtha am heiligen See Mānasarovara, von Puṣkara mit seinem großen See und von der heiligen Pilgerstätte Naimiṣa; und auch vom Fluss Bāhudā und vom Karatoyinī.“ In diesem Zusammenhang wendet sich die Frage des Königs berühmten tīrthas zu—Orten und Gewässern, denen man die Kraft zuschreibt, Verhalten und Gesinnung zu läutern—und betont so das sittliche Gewicht des Verdienstes (puṇya), das durch Wallfahrt und das Gedenken an heilige Geographie erwächst.
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds tīrthas—sacred places and waters—implying that contact with holy geography, undertaken with right intention, is a recognized means of cultivating puṇya (merit) and moral purification within the dharma framework.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra is listing and asking about eminent pilgrimage sites and rivers—Prabhāsa, Mānasarovara, Puṣkara, Naimiṣa, Bāhudā, and Karatoyinī—within a broader discussion that catalogs tīrthas and their religious significance.