Shloka 198
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
स्नात एव समाप्रोति कृत्वा श्राद्ध च मानव: । यत् किंचिद् दुष्कृतं कर्म स्त्रिया वा पुरुषेण वा,राजन! उसमें स्नान और जलपान करके मनुष्य स्वर्गलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है। जो सूर्यग्रहणके समय अमावास्याको वहाँ पितरोंका श्राद्ध करता है, उसके पुण्यफलका वर्णन सुनो--। भलीभाँति सम्पन्न किये हुए सहस्र अश्वमेध यज्ञोंका जो फल होता है, उसे मनुष्य उस तीर्थमें स्नानमात्र करके अथवा श्राद्ध करके पा लेता है। स्त्री या पुरुषने जो कुछ भी दुष्कर्म किया हो, वह सब वहाँ स्नान करनेमात्रसे नष्ट हो जाता है; इसमें संशय नहीं है। वह पुरुष कमलके समान रंगवाले विमानद्वारा ब्रह्मलोकमें जाता है
snāta eva samāpnoti kṛtvā śrāddhaṃ ca mānavaḥ | yat kiñcid duṣkṛtaṃ karma striyā vā puruṣeṇa vā ||
Ghūlastya said: “A person, having bathed and having performed the ancestral rite (śrāddha), attains the highest state. Whatever wrongful deed has been committed—by a woman or by a man—its stain is removed through bathing at that sacred place. Thus, through purification and reverent offering to the ancestors, one is led toward heavenly attainment and release from the burden of past misdeeds.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual purity (snāna) combined with reverence toward ancestors (śrāddha) is presented as a powerful means of ethical and spiritual cleansing: even serious wrongdoing is said to be washed away through sincere observance at a sacred context, leading toward heavenly attainment.
A speaker named Ghūlastya is praising the efficacy of a sacred observance: by bathing and performing śrāddha, a person gains great merit and is freed from the consequences of misdeeds, emphasizing the importance of tīrtha-practices and ancestral offerings within the Vana Parva’s pilgrimage discourse.