Shloka 52
कुरुश्रेष्ठ! तीर्थयात्री पुरुष शंखिनीतीर्थमें जाकर वहाँ देवीतीर्थमें स्नान करनेसे उत्तम रूप प्राप्त करता है ।। ततो गच्छेत राजेन्द्र द्वारपालमरन्तुकम् । तच्च तीर्थ सरस्वत्यां यक्षेन्द्रस्य महात्मन:
kuruśreṣṭha! tīrthayātrī puruṣaḥ śaṅkhinītīrthaṃ gatvā tatra devītīrthe snānena uttamaṃ rūpaṃ prāpnoti || tato gacchet rājendra dvārapālam arantukam | tac ca tīrthaṃ sarasvatyāṃ yakṣendrasya mahātmanaḥ ||
Ghūlastya said: “O best of the Kurus, a man who undertakes pilgrimage and goes to the Śaṅkhinī ford, bathing there at the Devī-tīrtha, attains an excellent and radiant form. Thereafter, O king, he should proceed to the sacred place called Dvārapāla (also known as Arantuka). That holy ford lies on the Sarasvatī and is associated with the great Yakṣa-lord.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the dharmic value of tīrtha-yātrā: disciplined pilgrimage and ritual bathing at sacred fords is portrayed as a means to purification and the attainment of auspicious qualities (here, ‘excellent form’), encouraging ethical self-cultivation through sacred practice.
Ghūlastya continues instructing the king on a sequence of pilgrimage sites: first Śaṅkhinī-tīrtha and the Devī-tīrtha (where bathing yields a boon), then the next destination—Dvārapāla/Arantuka—located on the Sarasvatī and linked with a great Yakṣa-lord.