Shloka 16
अगस्त्य-वातापि-उपाख्यानम्
Agastya and Vātāpi: Ilvala’s stratagem; Lopāmudrā’s emergence
तीर्थान्यगच्छन् विबुधास्तेनापुर्भूतिमुत्तमाम् । (यत्र धर्मेण वर्तन्ते राजानो राजसत्तम । सर्वान् सपत्नान् बाधनते राज्यं चैषां विवर्धते ।।) तथा त्वमपि राजेन्द्र स्नात्वा तीर्थेषु सानुज:
tīrthāny agacchan vibudhās tenāpur bhūtim uttamām | (yatra dharmeṇa vartante rājāno rājasattama | sarvān sapatnān bādhante rājyaṃ caiṣāṃ vivardhate ||) tathā tvam api rājendra snātvā tīrtheṣu sānujaḥ
Die Weisen erlangten, indem sie zu den tīrthas—den heiligen Furten—zogen, eine unvergleichliche Wohlfahrt. Denn, o Bester der Könige, wo Herrscher nach dem Dharma handeln, bezwingen sie alle rivalisierenden Anspruchsteller, und ihre Herrschaft wächst. So sollst auch du, o König, zusammen mit deinem jüngeren Bruder, in den heiligen tīrthas baden.
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
Righteous governance (dharma) and purificatory pilgrimage are presented as sources of both moral legitimacy and practical prosperity: when kings act by dharma, rivals are checked and the kingdom naturally flourishes.
The speaker advises the addressed king that the wise attained great welfare by visiting and bathing at sacred tīrthas, and urges him likewise—along with his younger brother—to undertake tīrtha-bathing, linking it to dharmic rule and the strengthening of sovereignty.