Shloka 38
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
यत्र क्रतुशतैरिष्टवा देवराजो दिवं गत:,वहीं सौ यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान करके देवराज इन्द्र स्वर्गके सिंहासनपर आसीन हुए थे। भरतनन्दन! वहाँ जानेमात्रसे यात्री अग्निष्टोमयज्ञका फल पा लेता है। तत्पश्चात् सर्वदेवहदमें स्नान करनेसे सहस्र गोदानका फल मिलता है
yatra kratuśatair iṣṭvā devarājo divaṃ gataḥ | vahīṃ śata-yajñānām anuṣṭhānaṃ kṛtvā devarāja indraḥ svarga-siṃhāsane āsīnaḥ | bharatanandana! tatra gamana-mātreṇa yātrī agniṣṭoma-yajñasya phalaṃ prāpnoti | tataḥ paraṃ sarvadeva-hrade snānena sahasra-go-dānasya phalaṃ labhate |
Pulastya said: “This is the place where the king of the gods, Indra, having performed a hundred sacrifices, attained heaven. Indeed, it was here that Indra, after completing those hundred rites, took his seat upon the throne of heaven. O delight of the Bharatas, merely by going to this spot a traveler gains the merit of an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice; and thereafter, by bathing in the lake called Sarvadeva, one obtains the fruit of gifting a thousand cows.”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that sacred places (tīrthas) are ethically potent: sincere pilgrimage and ritual bathing can confer the same merit as costly Vedic rites and large donations, making dharmic benefit accessible beyond wealth—while still honoring the ideal of sacrifice and generosity.
The sage Pulastya describes a holy site associated with Indra’s completion of a hundred sacrifices and his enthronement in heaven. He then states the specific spiritual rewards: merely visiting grants the fruit of an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice, and bathing in the Sarvadeva lake grants the fruit of donating a thousand cows.