Shloka 1463
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
तत्राभिषेकं कुर्वाणो हाग्निष्टोममवाप्नुयात् । अग्निधारातीर्थ तीनों लोकोंमें विख्यात है। वहाँ जाकर स्नान करनेवाला पुरुष अग्निष्टोमयज्ञका फल पाता है
tatrābhiṣekaṁ kurvāṇo hāgniṣṭomam avāpnuyāt | agnidhārātīrthaṁ trīṇāṁ lokānāṁ vikhyātaṁ | tatra gatvā snānaṁ kurvan puruṣo ’gniṣṭomayajñasya phalaṁ prāpnoti |
He who performs the consecratory rite there is said to obtain the merit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice. The sacred ford called Agnidhārā is renowned throughout the three worlds; a person who goes there and bathes gains the fruit of an Agniṣṭoma yajña—teaching that sincere pilgrimage and purification, undertaken with faith and restraint, can confer the same ethical-spiritual reward as costly ritual.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sincere sanctification and bathing at a renowned tīrtha can yield the same spiritual merit as performing an expensive Vedic sacrifice like the Agniṣṭoma, emphasizing inner purity, faith, and disciplined conduct over mere material capacity.
In the tīrtha-māhātmya section of Vana Parva, the speaker praises Agnidhārā as famous in all three worlds and declares that one who goes there, performs the consecratory rite, and bathes attains the fruit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice.