Shloka 65
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
ततो गच्छेत राजेन्द्र मानुषं लोकविश्रुतम् । यत्र कृष्णमृगा राजन् व्याधेन शरपीडिता:,सर्वपापविशुद्धात्मा स्वर्गलोके महीयते । राजेन्द्र! तदनन्तर लोकविख्यात मानुषतीर्थमें जाय। राजन! वहाँ व्याधके बाणोंसे पीडित हुए कृष्णमृग उस सरोवरमें गोते लगाकर मनुष्य-शरीर पा गये थे, इसीलिये उसका नाम मानुषतीर्थ है। ब्रह्मचर्यपालन-पूर्वक एकाग्रचित्त हो उस तीर्थमें स्नान करनेवाला मानव सब पापोंसे मुक्त हो स्वर्गलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है
tato gacchet rājendra mānuṣaṃ lokaviśrutam | yatra kṛṣṇamṛgā rājan vyādhena śarapīḍitāḥ | sarvapāpaviśuddhātmā svargaloke mahīyate |
Then, O lord of kings, one should proceed to the famed pilgrimage-place called Mānuṣa. O king, there the black antelopes, tormented by a hunter’s arrows, plunged into that lake and regained human bodies; hence it is known as Mānuṣatīrtha. A person who bathes there with disciplined brahmacarya and a concentrated mind is purified of all sins and is honored in heaven.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pilgrimage yields its promised fruit when joined to ethical restraint and mental concentration: bathing at a tīrtha with brahmacarya and one-pointedness is presented as a means of purification from sin and attainment of heavenly honor.
The speaker directs the king to a famous sacred site called Mānuṣa/Mānuṣatīrtha, explaining its origin: black antelopes wounded by a hunter’s arrows entered the lake and obtained human bodies; the place is therefore celebrated as a human-associated tīrtha that grants purification and heavenly reward to disciplined bathers.