Shloka 55
ततो गच्छेत धर्मज्ञ हिमवत्सुतमर्बुदम् । पृथिव्यां यत्र वै छिद्रं पूर्वमासीद् युधिष्ठिर,धर्मज्ञ युधिष्ठिर-! वहाँसे आगे हिमालयपुत्र अर्बुद (आबू)-की यात्रा करे, जहाँ पहले पृथ्वीमें विवर था
tato gacchet dharmajña himavatsutam arbudam | pṛthivyāṃ yatra vai chidraṃ pūrvam āsīd yudhiṣṭhira ||
Then, O dharma-knowing Yudhiṣṭhira, one should proceed to Arbuda, the son of Himavat. It is the place where, in former times, there was a cleft in the earth.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames pilgrimage as a dharma-guided journey: the listener (Yudhiṣṭhira, exemplar of righteousness) is directed to a specific tīrtha whose sanctity is tied to an ancient cosmic/geographical event. Dharma here includes reverent attention to sacred places and the moral discipline of following prescribed paths.
The speaker continues a sequence of pilgrimage instructions in the Vana Parva, telling Yudhiṣṭhira to go next to Arbuda (associated with Himavat) and identifying it by a distinctive feature—an old fissure in the earth—serving as a marker of the site’s legendary past and sacred significance.