Shloka 76
प्रयागं जघनस्थानमुपस्थमृषयो विदु: । प्रयागं सप्रतिष्ठानं कम्बलाश्वतरौ तथा,ऋषियोंने प्रयागको जघनस्थानीय उपस्थ बताया है। प्रतिष्ठानपुर (झूसी)-सहित प्रयाग, कम्बल और अश्वतर नाग तथा भोगवतीतीर्थ यह ब्रह्माजीकी वेदी है। युधिष्ठिर! उस तीर्थमें वेद और यज्ञ मूर्तिमान् होकर रहते हैं और प्रजापतिकी उपासना करते हैं। तपोधन ऋषि, देवता तथा चक्रधर नृपतिगण वहाँ यज्ञोंद्वारा भगवानका यजन करते हैं। भरतनन्दन! इसीलिये तीनों लोकोंमें प्रयागको सब तीर्थोकी अपेक्षा श्रेष्ठ एवं पुण्यतम बताते हैं। उस तीर्थमें जानेसे अथवा उसका नाम लेनेमात्रसे भी मनुष्य मृत्युकालके भय और पापसे मुक्त हो जाता है
prayāgaṁ jaghanasthānam upastham ṛṣayo viduḥ | prayāgaṁ sapratiṣṭhānaṁ kambalāśvatarau tathā |
Pulastya said: “The sages know Prayāga as the ‘lower seat’ and generative center of the sacred geography. Prayāga—together with Pratiṣṭhāna—along with Kambala and Aśvatara (the nāgas), is revered as a supremely sanctifying locus. By going there, and even by merely uttering its name, a person is released from sin and from the dread that arises at the time of death.”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches the exceptional sanctity of Prayāga: contact with a supremely holy place—through pilgrimage or even remembrance—functions as a moral and spiritual purifier, dissolving sin and easing existential fear, especially the fear associated with death.
Pulastya is describing the greatness of a tīrtha to his listener, identifying Prayāga (with Pratiṣṭhāna and the nāgas Kambala and Aśvatara) as a uniquely potent sacred center recognized by sages, and emphasizing the salvific benefit of visiting or even naming it.