Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
अद्य प्रभृति युष्माकं धर्मवृद्धिर्भविष्यति | तत्र स्नात्वा नरव्याप्र रुद्रकोट्यां नर: शुचि:
adya prabhṛti yuṣmākaṃ dharmavṛddhir bhaviṣyati | tatra snātvā naravyāghra rudrakoṭyāṃ naraḥ śuciḥ ||
“From today onward, your growth in dharma will surely increase. O tiger among men, by bathing there at Rudrakoṭī, a person becomes purified.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
The verse teaches that sincere engagement with dharma can be strengthened through sacred practice: bathing at a revered tīrtha (Rudrakoṭī) is presented as a means of purification and an aid to the increase of dharma (moral-religious merit and right conduct).
A speaker (Ghulasṭya) directs or blesses the listeners, declaring that from this day their dharma will grow, and points them to the sacred site Rudrakoṭī, stating that bathing there makes a person purified—typical of Vana Parva tīrtha descriptions and guidance during pilgrimage.