Shloka 89
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
गोसहस्रस्य राजेन्द्र फलं विन्दति मानव: । पाणिखाते नर: स्नात्वा तर्पयित्वा च देवता:
gosahasrasya rājendra phalaṁ vindati mānavaḥ | pāṇikhāte naraḥ snātvā tarpayitvā ca devatāḥ ||
O king, by bathing in a hand-dug water-pit and then offering due libations (tarpana) to the deities, a person gains merit equal to the gift of a thousand cows.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that great religious merit is not limited to costly gifts; even a simple act—bathing in a hand-dug water source and performing tarpana to the deities with reverence—can yield merit comparable to donating a thousand cows.
Ghūlastya addresses the king and explains the spiritual reward (phala) of a specific practice: bathing in a hand-dug pit and then offering libations to the deities, equating its merit with the famed charity of gifting a thousand cows.