Shloka 156
Brāhmaṇya-प्रश्नः — The Inquiry into Attaining Brāhmaṇya
Mataṅga–Gardabhī Itihāsa
एकमासं निराहार: स पश्यति हि देवता: । जहाँ उत्तर दिशामें भागीरथी गंगा गिरती हैं और वहाँ उनका स्रोत तीन भागोंमें विभक्त हो जाता है, वह भगवान् महेश्वरका त्रिस्थान नामक तीर्थ है। जो मनुष्य एक मासतक निराहार रहकर वहाँ स्नान करता है, उसे देवताओं का प्रत्यक्ष दर्शन होता है
ekamāsaṃ nirāhāraḥ sa paśyati hi devatāḥ | yatra uttaradiśi bhāgīrathī gaṅgā patati tatra ca tasyāḥ srotaḥ tribhāgena vibhajyate, tat bhagavataḥ maheśvarasya tristhāna-nāma tīrtham | yo manuṣyaḥ ekamāsaṃ nirāhāraḥ san tatra snātvā devatānāṃ pratyakṣa-darśanaṃ labhate |
„Wer einen Monat lang ohne Nahrung bleibt, schaut wahrhaft die Götter. Im Norden, wo die Bhāgīrathī-Gaṅgā herabströmt und ihr Lauf sich in drei Ströme teilt, liegt die heilige Furt namens Tristhāna, dem Herrn Maheśvara zugehörig. Wer einen Monat fastet und dort badet, erlangt unmittelbare Schau der Gottheiten.“
अजड्रिय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that disciplined austerity (a month-long fast) combined with reverent pilgrimage and ritual bathing at a Śiva-associated tīrtha is said to yield extraordinary spiritual fruit—direct perception of the divine—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s emphasis on tapas, tīrtha-sevā, and faith as dharmic means to inner purification.
Ajadriya describes the greatness of a specific sacred place: where the Bhāgīrathī Gaṅgā descends in the north and splits into three channels. He identifies it as Maheśvara’s Tristhāna tīrtha and states the promised result for a pilgrim who fasts for a month and bathes there—vision of the gods.