Shloka 20
Brāhmaṇya-प्रश्नः — The Inquiry into Attaining Brāhmaṇya
Mataṅga–Gardabhī Itihāsa
देवेषु लभते कीर्ति यशसा च विराजते,कन्याकूपमें स्नान करके बलाका तीर्थमें तर्पण करनेवाला पुरुष देवताओंमें कीर्ति पाता है और अपने यशसे प्रकाशित होता है
deveṣu labhate kīrtiṃ yaśasā ca virājate | kanyākūpe snānaṃ kṛtvā balākā-tīrthe tarpaṇaṃ kurvan puruṣo devatāsu kīrtiṃ prāpnoti sva-yaśasā ca prakāśate ||
Ajaḍriya said: “He who bathes at Kanyākūpa and then offers tarpaṇa—libations for the ancestors—at the sacred ford called Balākā gains renown among the gods and shines forth through his own good fame.”
अजड्रिय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that performing prescribed sacred acts—ritual bathing and tarpaṇa at specific tīrthas—supports dharma and yields puṇya, expressed as kīrti (renown) and yaśas (good fame), even ‘among the gods’.
Ajaḍriya is describing the fruit (phala) of visiting particular pilgrimage sites: bathing at Kanyākūpa and offering tarpaṇa at Balākā-tīrtha. It is part of a tīrtha-māhātmya style enumeration of holy places and their merits.