Shloka 12

Devanagari script

करतोयां कुरड्ले च त्रिरात्रोपोषितो नर: । अश्वमेधमवाप्रोति विगाहा[ प्रयत: शुचि:,गन्धमादन पर्वतके निकट इन्द्रतोया नदीमें और कुरंग क्षेत्रके भीतर करतोया नदीमें संयतचित्त एवं शुद्धभावसे स्नान करके तीन रात उपवास करनेवाला मनुष्य अश्वमेध यज्ञका फल पाता है

Transliteration

karatoyāyāṃ kuraṅge ca trirātropoṣito naraḥ | aśvamedham avāpnoti vigāhya prayataḥ śuciḥ ||

Translation

Ajadriya said: A man who, with self-restraint and purity, bathes in the river Karatoyā within the Kuraṅga region and then fasts for three nights attains merit equal to that of the Aśvamedha sacrifice.

Word by Word

करतोयाम्in (the river) Karatoyā

कुरड्लेin Kuradla (a place/region)

चand

त्रिरात्र-उपोषितःhaving fasted for three nights

नरःa man

अश्वमेधम्the Aśvamedha (sacrifice/its fruit)

अवाप्नोतिattains/obtains

Speaker

अजड्रिय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ajadriya

Karatoyā river

Kuraṅga region

Aśvamedha (horse-sacrifice)

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 sincere discipline—purity, self-restraint, sacred bathing, and a three-night fast—can confer spiritual merit comparable to an elaborate royal sacrifice like the Aśvamedha, emphasizing inner effort over external grandeur.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker named Ajadriya is listing the fruits of visiting specific sacred places (tīrthas). Here he states that bathing in the Karatoyā in the Kuraṅga region and fasting for three nights yields the Aśvamedha’s reward.