Shloka 40
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
ततो वापीं महापुण्यां पयोष्णीं सरितां वराम् । पितृदेवार्चनरतो गोसहस्रफलं लभेत्,तदनन्तर परम पुण्यमयी वापी और सरिताओंमें श्रेष्ठ पयोष्णीमें जाकर स्नान करे और देवताओं तथा पितरोंके पूजनमें तत्पर रहे, ऐसा करनेसे तीर्थसेवीको सहस्र गोदानका फल मिलता है
tato vāpīṁ mahāpuṇyāṁ payoṣṇīṁ saritāṁ varām | pitṛdevārcanarato gosahasraphalaṁ labhet |
Pulastya said: “Thereafter, one should go to the supremely meritorious sacred pool and to Payoṣṇī, the best of rivers, and bathe there. If one remains devoted to worship of the gods and the ancestors, the pilgrim gains the merit equal to the gift of a thousand cows.”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pilgrimage is not merely travel: bathing at a sacred site should be joined with active reverence—worship of the gods and honoring the ancestors. Such integrated practice is said to yield immense merit, symbolized as the fruit of gifting a thousand cows.
Pulastya continues a tīrtha-māhātmya instruction, directing the listener to proceed to a highly sacred pond and then to the Payoṣṇī river, bathe there, and remain intent on worship of devas and pitṛs; the text states the resulting spiritual reward.