Shloka 41

Devanagari script

दण्डकारण्यमासाद्य पुण्यं राजन्नुपस्पृशेत्‌ । गोसहस्रफलं तस्य स्नातमात्रस्य भारत,राजन्‌! भरतनन्दन! जो दण्डकारण्यमें जाकर स्नान करता है, उसे स्नान करनेमात्रसे सहस्र गोदानका फल प्राप्त होता है

Transliteration

daṇḍakāraṇyam āsādya puṇyaṁ rājann upaspṛśet | gosahasraphalaṁ tasya snātamātrasya bhārata ||

Translation

Pulastya sprach: „O König, Nachkomme Bharatas, wenn man den heiligen Dandaka-Wald (Daṇḍaka) erreicht, soll man dort baden. Schon durch dieses Bad allein erlangt man ein Verdienst, das dem Geschenk von tausend Kühen gleichkommt.“

Word by Word

दण्डकारण्यम्the Dandaka forest (Dandakaranya)

आसाद्यhaving reached

पुण्यम्meritorious, sacred (act/benefit)

राजन्O king

उपस्पृशेत्should bathe / should perform ablution

गोcow (as first member of compound)

सहस्रa thousand (as numeral member of compound)

फलम्fruit, result

तस्यof him / of that (person)

स्नातof one who has bathed

मात्रस्यof merely (that much only)

भारतO Bharata

Speaker

पुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pulastya

Daṇḍakāraṇya (Daṇḍaka forest)

Bhārata (descendant of Bharata)

go (cow)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that contact with a sanctified place through a simple act of ritual bathing can yield great spiritual merit—comparable to major charity—highlighting the purifying power of tīrtha-practice and the accessibility of dharmic merit through disciplined, reverent action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Pulastya, speaking to a king addressed as ‘Bhārata,’ continues a discourse on sacred places and their rewards, stating that upon reaching Daṇḍakāraṇya, one should bathe; the mere bath grants the merit equivalent to donating a thousand cows.