Shloka 1076
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
तत्रोष्य जननीमेकां गोसहस्रफलं लभेत् । भरतनन्दन! जो मणिनागका तीर्थप्रसाद (नैवेद्य, चरणामृत आदि)-का भक्षण करता है, उसे साँप काट ले तो भी उसपर विषका असर नहीं होता। वहाँ एक रात रहनेसे सहस्र गोदानका फल मिलता है
tatroṣya jananīm ekāṁ go-sahasra-phalaṁ labhet | bharata-nandana! yo maṇi-nāgakā tīrtha-prasādaṁ (naivedya, caraṇāmṛta ādi) bhakṣaṇa karatā hai, use sāṁp kāṭ le to bhī usapar viṣa-kā asara nahīṁ hotā | vahāṁ eka rātri rahane se sahasra go-dāna kā phala miltā hai |
Ghūlastya said: “If one stays there for a single night, one gains merit equal to the fruit of gifting a thousand cows. O delight of the Bharatas, whoever partakes of the prasāda of the Maṇināga tīrtha—such as consecrated food and caraṇāmṛta, the water from the deity’s feet—remains unharmed by poison even if bitten by a snake.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage extols tīrtha-sevā: staying even one night at a sanctified place and reverently receiving its prasāda is said to yield immense puṇya (equal to a thousand cow-gifts) and divine protection, illustrating the Mahābhārata’s theme that faith, purity of conduct, and sacred observance can transform and safeguard a person.
During the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-yātrā descriptions, the speaker Ghūlastya praises the Maṇināga pilgrimage site, telling a Bharata prince that residence there for one night grants great merit and that consuming the site’s consecrated offerings protects one from the effects of snake venom.