Shloka 34
Brāhmaṇya-प्रश्नः — The Inquiry into Attaining Brāhmaṇya
Mataṅga–Gardabhī Itihāsa
गड्राह्दद उपस्पृश्य तथा चैवोत्पलावने । अश्वमेधमवाप्नोति तत्र मासं कृतोदक:,जो गड़ाह्द और उत्पलावनतीर्थमें स्नान करके एक मासतक वहाँ पितरोंका तर्पण करता है, वह अश्वमेधयज्ञका फल पाता है
Gadāhrada upaspṛśya tathā caivotpalāvane | aśvamedham avāpnoti tatra māsaṁ kṛtodakaḥ ||
One who performs the ritual bath (touching the sacred waters) at the tīrtha called Gadāhrada, and likewise at Utpalāvana, and then for a full month performs the water-offering rites there, attains merit equivalent to that of the Aśvamedha sacrifice.
अजड्रिय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sustained, sincere observance of ancestral rites (water-offerings) combined with pilgrimage bathing at sacred sites can confer merit comparable to the highest royal sacrifices, emphasizing accessible dharma grounded in devotion, discipline, and reverence for lineage.
Within the Anuśāsana Parva’s tīrtha-māhātmya style instruction, the speaker enumerates specific holy places and the fruits of bathing and performing rites there; here, Gadāhrada and Utpalāvana are praised, and a month-long performance of water-rites at that location is said to yield Aśvamedha-level merit.