Shloka 513
Indratīrtha–Ādityatīrtha: Balarāma’s Ritual Bathing, Dāna, and Sacred-Historical Recollections
प्राप्रुयादुपवासेन फल द्वादशवार्षिकम् । 'देवदेवेश्वर! इस तीर्थमें तीन राततक पवित्र भावसे रहकर वास करनेसे मनुष्यको बारह वर्षोके उपवासका फल प्राप्त हो'
prāpnuyād upavāsena phalaṃ dvādaśavārṣikam |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: By observing a fast here, one attains the merit equivalent to a twelve-year vow. The passage extols the sanctity of the tīrtha: dwelling there for three nights with a purified, reverent mind is said to yield the same spiritual fruit as prolonged austerity, emphasizing inner purity and devoted conduct over mere duration of hardship.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sincere, purified observance—fasting and reverent residence at a sacred tīrtha—can yield immense spiritual merit, symbolically equated with the fruit of a twelve-year austerity. It highlights intention and sanctified context as amplifiers of ethical and spiritual practice.
Vaiśaṃpāyana is describing the extraordinary efficacy of a particular pilgrimage observance: fasting (and, in the accompanying explanation, staying for three nights with a pure mind) at the tīrtha is praised as granting great religious merit.