Shloka 6
Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)
स विद्वान वेदयुक्तश्न सिद्धश्नाप्यूषिसत्तम: । तत्र तीर्थे वरान् प्रादात् त्रीनेव सुमहातपा:,नरेश्वर! इससे महातपस्वी आर्टरिषेण खिन्न एवं विरक्त हो उठे, फिर उन्होंने सरस्वतीके उसी तीर्थमें जाकर बड़ी भारी तपस्या की। उस तपके प्रभावसे उत्तम वेदोंका ज्ञान प्राप्त करके वे ऋषिश्रेष्ठ विद्वान वेदज्ञ और सिद्ध हो गये। तदनन्तर उन महातपस्वीने उस तीर्थको तीन वर प्रदान किये--
sa vidvān vedayuktaś ca siddhaś cāpy ṛṣi-sattamaḥ | tatra tīrthe varān prādāt trīn eva su-mahā-tapāḥ ||
That best of sages, learned and endowed with Vedic knowledge, became perfected as well. Then, at that sacred ford, the great ascetic granted three boons to the tīrtha itself.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Austerity (tapas) and Vedic discipline culminate in siddhi (spiritual accomplishment), and such attainment is meant to be shared—by consecrating sacred spaces and making them beneficial for others through blessings.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a great ascetic who, having become learned and spiritually perfected, goes to a tīrtha and grants it three boons—setting up the next verses that will specify those blessings.