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 said: “(Tell me of) Prabhāsa, the tīrtha at the sacred lake of Mānasarovara, Puṣkara with its great lake, and the holy pilgrimage-place of Naimiṣa; and also the river Bāhudā and the Karatoyinī.” Here the king’s question turns toward famed tīrthas—places and waters believed to cleanse conduct and intention—signaling a moral emphasis on merit (puṇya) gained through pilgrimage and the remembrance of sacred geography.
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.