Mahabharata — Vana Parva, Shloka 80
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
मार्कण्डेयस्य राजेन्द्र तीर्थमासाद्य दुर्लभम्
mārkaṇḍeyasya rājendra tīrtham āsādya durlabham | rājendra gomatyāḥ gaṅgāyāś ca lokavikhyāta-saṅgamasya samīpe mārkaṇḍeyajī-kṛtaṃ durlabhaṃ tīrtham asti | tatra gatvā manuṣyo 'gniṣṭoma-yajñasya phalaṃ prāpnoti sva-kulasya ca uddhāraṃ karoti |
Ghūlastya said: “O king, there is a rare sacred ford associated with Mārkaṇḍeya. Near the world-renowned confluence of the Gomati and the Gaṅgā lies that difficult-to-attain tīrtha of the sage. By going there, a person gains the merit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice and becomes a cause for the uplift of his own lineage.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pilgrimage to a sanctified place connected with a great ṛṣi is presented as a dharmic act whose merit can equal major Vedic sacrifices, and that merit is understood to benefit not only the individual but also one’s family line.
A speaker named Ghūlastya is guiding the king through a catalogue of sacred places, pointing out a rare tīrtha of Mārkaṇḍeya located near the celebrated confluence of the Gomati and Gaṅgā, and describing the spiritual rewards of visiting it.