Shloka 31

Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti

Chapter 82

Devanagari script

कार्तिकीं तु विशेषण योडभिगच्छति पुष्करम्‌

Transliteration

kārtikīṁ tu viśeṣeṇa yo ’bhigacchati puṣkaram

Translation

Ghūlastya said: “But whoever, with special observance, goes to Puṣkara in the month of Kārtika…”

Word by Word

• कार्तिकीम्: on the Kārtikī (full-moon) day / in the month of Kārtika (as a time-specification)
• कार्तिकीम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्तिकी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• विशेषेण: especially, in particular
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विशेष

• यः: who (he who)
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अभिगच्छति: goes to, approaches
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-गम्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• पुष्करम्: Puṣkara (the sacred place/tīrtha)
• पुष्करम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुष्कर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghūlastya
• Puṣkara
• Kārtika (month)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the idea that time (Kārtika) and place (Puṣkara) together intensify religious merit: disciplined pilgrimage and special observance are presented as powerful means of ethical purification and dharmic uplift.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-māhātmya context, the speaker begins describing the distinctive fruit of going to the sacred site Puṣkara specifically during Kārtika, setting up the ensuing praise of that pilgrimage’s spiritual efficacy.