Shloka 26
Cyavana’s Reconciliation with Indra; Tīrtha-Indexing at Ārcīka-parvata and Yamunā
Chapter 125
अत्र राजा महेष्वासो मान्धातायजत स्वयम् | साहदेविश्व कौन्तेय सोमको ददतां वर:
atra rājā maheṣvāso māndhātāyajata svayam | sāhadeviśva kaunteya somako dadatāṃ varaḥ ||
Here is that holy Yamunā, revered and frequented by great seers, on whose banks many sacrifices have been performed. It drives away the fear of sin. O son of Kuntī, it was on this very shore that the mighty archer-king Māndhātṛ himself offered sacrifice; and here too Somaka, foremost among givers and the son of Sahadeva, carried out sacrificial rites. The passage underscores how sacred places and righteous acts—especially yajña and dāna—are remembered as enduring models of dharma.
लोगमश उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred places gain authority through the accumulated dharmic acts performed there; yajña (sacrifice) and dāna (generosity) are held up as exemplary duties whose memory sanctifies a tīrtha and encourages ethical conduct by later generations.
Lomaśa, guiding the Pāṇḍavas on pilgrimage, points out the Yamunā as a revered river-bank where famed kings—Māndhātṛ and Somaka—performed sacrifices, using their examples to highlight the site’s purifying and merit-bestowing character.