Mahabharata — Vana Parva, Shloka 121
ह्वियमाणा हृता राजन् विष्णुना प्रभविष्णुना | तत्राभिषेकं कुर्वीत तीर्थकोट्यां युधिष्ठिर
hviyamāṇā hṛtā rājan viṣṇunā prabhaviṣṇunā | tatrābhiṣekaṃ kurvīta tīrthakoṭyāṃ yudhiṣṭhira ||
Ghūlastya said: “O King, even as she was being invoked, she was carried away by Viṣṇu, the all-powerful Lord. Therefore, O Yudhiṣṭhira, one should perform the consecratory rite (abhiṣeka) there, at the sacred ford called Tīrthakoṭī.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the sanctifying power of a tīrtha and the dharmic value of prescribed rites: when a place is marked by divine action (Viṣṇu’s irresistible power), performing abhiṣeka there becomes a meritorious act of purification and devotion.
Ghūlastya addresses Yudhiṣṭhira, recounting that someone (a woman, implied by feminine participles) was called/invoked but was taken away by Viṣṇu; on that basis he recommends that Yudhiṣṭhira perform a consecratory rite at the pilgrimage site named Tīrthakoṭī.