Shloka 109
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
स्नाति तीर्थेषु कौरव्य न च वक्रमतिर्नर: | त्वया तु सम्यग्वृत्तेन नित्यं धर्मार्थदर्शिना
snāti tīrtheṣu kauravya na ca vakramatir naraḥ | tvayā tu samyagvṛttena nityaṁ dharmārthadarśinā
Pulastya said: “O scion of the Kuru line, a man may bathe at sacred fords, yet his crooked-mindedness does not thereby depart. But in your case—because your conduct is truly upright and because you constantly discern dharma (what is right) and artha (what is beneficial)—the purifying aim is fulfilled through character rather than mere ritual.”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual acts like bathing at tīrthas do not automatically remove inner crookedness; genuine purification and merit come from samyak-vṛtti—steady right conduct—and clear discernment of dharma and artha.
The sage Pulastya addresses a Kuru-descended interlocutor, contrasting external pilgrimage rites with inner moral transformation, and commends the listener’s upright, dharma-guided way of life as the true source of purity.