Shloka 181
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
त्रिरात्रोपोषितस्तेन भवेत् तुल्यो नराधिप । रुद्रमार्ग समासाद्य तीर्थसेवी नराधिप,अहोरात्रोपवासेन शक्रलोके महीयते । तदनन्तर बदरीपाचन नामसे प्रसिद्ध वसिष्ठके आश्रमपर जाय और वहाँ तीन रात उपवासपूर्वक रहकर बेरका फल खाय। जो मनुष्य वहाँ बारह वर्षोतक भलीभाँति त्रिरात्रोपवासपूर्वक बेरका फल खाता है, वह उन्हीं वसिष्ठके समान होता है। राजन! नरेश्वर! तीर्थसेवी मनुष्य रुद्रमार्गमें जाकर एक दिन-रात उपवास करे। इससे वह इन्द्रलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है
trirātropoṣitas tena bhavet tulyo narādhipa | rudramārgaṃ samāsādya tīrthasevī narādhipa, ahorātropavāsena śakraloke mahīyate |
Ghūlastya said: “O king, by observing a three-night fast there, a man becomes equal to him in merit. O lord of men, a pilgrim who reaches the path sacred to Rudra and keeps a fast for a full day and night is honored in Śakra’s (Indra’s) world. After that, one should go to the well-known hermitage of Vasiṣṭha at Badarīpācana; dwelling there and fasting for three nights, one should eat the fruit of the jujube (badarī). Whoever, for twelve years, regularly eats the badarī fruit only after such three-night fasts becomes like Vasiṣṭha himself.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that disciplined austerity—especially fasting undertaken at sacred places with reverence—purifies and elevates a person. Pilgrimage (tīrtha-sevā) is presented not as travel alone but as ethical self-restraint (upavāsa), yielding spiritual merit, honor in heaven, and even sage-like stature when practiced steadily.
Ghūlastya instructs a king about specific tīrthas and the vows to be performed there: a three-night fast that grants exceptional merit, a day-and-night fast on Rudra’s sacred path that leads to honor in Indra’s world, and a regimen at Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage near Badarīpācana where one fasts three nights and then eats badarī fruit—repeated over twelve years to attain Vasiṣṭha-like spiritual standing.