Shloka 166
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
कुरुतीर्थ नर: स्नात्वा ब्रह्मचारी जितेन्द्रिय: । सर्वपापविशुद्धात्मा ब्रह्मलोक॑ प्रपद्यते,जो मनुष्य ब्रह्मचर्यपालन और इन्द्रियसंयमपूर्वक कुरुतीर्थमें स्नान करता है, वह सब पापोंसे शुद्ध होकर ब्रह्मलोकमें जाता है
kurutīrtha naraḥ snātvā brahmacārī jitendriyaḥ | sarvapāpaviśuddhātmā brahmalokaṁ prapadyate ||
Ghūlastya said: “A man who bathes at Kuru-tīrtha while observing brahmacarya and mastering his senses becomes purified of all sins and attains the world of Brahmā (Brahmaloka).”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pilgrimage yields its highest fruit when joined to inner discipline: celibate restraint (brahmacarya) and control of the senses (jitendriyatā). The verse links external purification (bathing at a tīrtha) with ethical self-mastery, culminating in spiritual merit and exalted posthumous attainment (brahmaloka).
In the tīrtha-māhātmya context of the Vana Parva, the speaker Ghūlastya praises the sanctity of Kuru-tīrtha, declaring the reward for one who bathes there with disciplined conduct: purification from sin and ascent to Brahmā’s realm.