Shloka 80
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
गमनात् तस्य तीर्थस्य नामसंकीर्तनादपि । मृत्युकालभयाच्चापि नर: पापात् प्रमुच्यते,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
gamanāt tasya tīrthasya nāmasaṅkīrtanād api | mṛtyukālabhayāc cāpi naraḥ pāpāt pramucyate ||
Pulastya says that a person is released from sin not only by actually going to that sacred ford, but even by merely reciting its name; and he is freed as well from the dread that arises at the time of death. The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethic of tīrtha as moral purification: sincere remembrance and reverent association with a holy place are presented as spiritually efficacious, reducing fear and loosening the grip of wrongdoing.
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Association with a sacred tīrtha works on the moral and psychological level: going there, or even reverently uttering its name, is said to cleanse pāpa and dissolve the fear that grips a person at death. The emphasis is on the transformative power of faith-filled remembrance and pilgrimage within dharma.
Pulastya is describing the spiritual efficacy (māhātmya) of a particular tīrtha while instructing the listener about pilgrimage merits. In this verse he summarizes the benefit: liberation from sin and from death-time fear through visiting or even naming the holy place.