Mahabharata — Vana Parva, Shloka 6
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
वहाँ ब्रह्मा आदि देवता, तपोधन ऋषि, सिद्ध, चारण, गन्धर्व, किन्नर और बड़े-बड़े नाग निवास करते हैं ।।
tatra brahmādayo devāḥ tapodhanā ṛṣayaḥ siddhāś cāraṇā gandharvāḥ kinnarāś ca mahānāgāś ca nivasanti | tad vanaṃ praviśann eva sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate | tataś cāpi saricchreṣṭhā nadīnām uttamā nadī paramapuṇyā sarasvatīdevyā udgamasthānam, yatra sā plakṣanāmnaḥ vṛkṣasya mūlāt sravantī | rājan! tatra valmīkād utthitena jalena snānaṃ kartavyam |
There dwell Brahmā and the other gods, ascetic sages rich in austerity, Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, and mighty Nāgas. Merely by entering that forest a person is released from all sins. Beyond it lies the most excellent of rivers, the best among streams—the supremely holy source of the goddess Sarasvatī—where she is seen dripping forth from the root of a tree called Plakṣa. O King, one should bathe there in the water that rises from an anthill, for it is a place of extraordinary purification.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred places are portrayed as moral catalysts: entering a holy forest and bathing at a revered source is said to cleanse sin, encouraging restraint, reverence, and renewed commitment to dharma.
The speaker describes a holy region inhabited by divine and semi-divine beings, then points out the exceptionally meritorious source of the Sarasvatī near a Plakṣa tree, advising the king to bathe in the water emerging from an anthill there.