Shloka 16
Gaya’s Seven Aśvamedhas, Payoṣṇī Snāna, and the Śaryāti Sacrifice Locale
Lomaśa–Yudhiṣṭhira Dialogue
वैशम्पायन उवाच स पयोष्ण्यां नरश्रेष्ठ: स्नात्वा वै भ्रातृभि: सह । वैदूर्यपर्वतं चैव नर्मदां च महानदीम्,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--निष्पाप जनमेजय! पाण्डवप्रवर नरश्रेष्ठ राजा युधिष्छिर भाइयोंसहित पयोष्णी नदीमें स्नान करके वैदूर्यपर्वत और महानदी नर्मदाके तटपर जानेका उद्देश्य लेकर वहाँसे चल दिये और वे तेजस्वी नरेश सब भाइयोंको साथ लिये यथासमय अपने गन्तव्य स्थानपर पहुँच गये। वहाँ भगवान् लोमश मुनिने उनसे समस्त रमणीय तीथर्थों और पवित्र देवस्थानोंका परिचय कराया। तत्पश्चात् राजाने अपनी सुविधा और प्रसन्नताके अनुसार सहसौरों ब्राह्यगोंको धनका दान किया और भाइयोंसहित उन सब स्थानोंकी यात्रा की
vaiśampāyana uvāca | sa payoṣṇyāṃ naraśreṣṭhaḥ snātvā vai bhrātṛbhiḥ saha | vaidūryaparvataṃ caiva narmadāṃ ca mahānadīm |
Vaiśampāyana said: Having bathed in the river Payoṣṇī, that best of men set out with his brothers, intent on reaching Mount Vaidūrya and the great river Narmadā. The passage portrays the Pāṇḍavas’ disciplined pilgrimage—purifying themselves, moving in fraternal harmony, and turning their steps toward sacred landscapes that uphold restraint, gratitude, and dharmic conduct even in exile.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in hardship, dharmic life is sustained through purity, restraint, and purposeful movement toward sacred duties; the brothers’ shared pilgrimage models unity and disciplined conduct rather than despair or indulgence.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that the leading Pandava, with his brothers, bathes in the Payoṣṇī and then proceeds toward Vaidūrya mountain and the great river Narmadā as part of their ongoing pilgrimage during exile.