Shloka 46
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
गयां गयशिरश्वैव विपाशां स्थूलवालुकाम् | कृष्णां गंगां पजचनदं महाह्दमथापि च
gayāṁ gayaśiraś caiva vipāśāṁ sthūlavālukām | kṛṣṇāṁ gaṅgāṁ pañcanadaṁ mahāhradam athāpi ca ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “(I have heard of) Gayā and Gayaśiras, the Vipāśā with its broad sandy banks, the river Kṛṣṇā, the Gaṅgā, the land of the five rivers (Pañcanada), and also the great lake.” In context, the king is enumerating renowned tīrthas—sacred places and waters—whose remembrance and visitation are linked with purification, merit, and the ethical ideal of seeking dharma through pilgrimage rather than through power.
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s emphasis on tīrtha-yātrā—turning toward sacred places and waters as a dharmic means of inner purification and accruing merit, reminding rulers and householders that ethical renewal can be sought through restraint, reverence, and pilgrimage.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra is listing celebrated pilgrimage sites—rivers and holy locales—within a broader discourse on dharma and the fruits of visiting or honoring tīrthas, situating moral instruction within India’s sacred geography.