Shloka 118
तपसा स्वर्गगमनं भोगो दानेन जायते | ज्ञानेन मोक्षो विज्ञेयस्तीर्थस्नानादघक्षय:,तपसे स्वर्गलोकमें जानेका सौभाग्य प्राप्त होता है। दानसे भोगोंकी प्राप्ति होती है। ज्ञानसे मोक्ष मिलता है, यह जानना चाहिये तथा तीर्थस्नानसे पापोंका क्षय हो जाता है
tapasā svargagamanaṃ bhogo dānena jāyate | jñānena mokṣo vijñeyas tīrthasnānād aghakṣayaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “By austerity one gains passage to heaven; by giving, one gains the enjoyments of life. By knowledge, one should understand liberation to be attainable; and by bathing at sacred fords (tīrthas), sins are diminished.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps distinct spiritual practices to their characteristic fruits: tapas leads to heavenly attainment, dāna yields worldly enjoyments, jñāna leads to mokṣa, and tīrtha-bathing reduces sin—presenting a graded view of aims from prosperity to liberation.
In the Vana Parva context of exile and pilgrimage-discourse, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a concise ethical-spiritual summary, distinguishing the outcomes of austerity, generosity, knowledge, and pilgrimage rites.