Shloka 95
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
यथा पुण्यानि तीर्थानि पुण्यान्यायतनानि च । उपास्य पुण्यं लब्ध्वा च भवत्यमरलोकभाक्,जितने पुण्य तीर्थ हैं और जितने पुण्य मन्दिर हैं, उन सबकी उपासना (सेवन)-से पुण्यलाभ करके मनुष्य देवलोकका भागी होता है
yathā puṇyāni tīrthāni puṇyāny āyatanāni ca | upāsya puṇyaṁ labdhvā ca bhavaty amaralokabhāk ||
Pulastya said: “Just as there are sacred pilgrimage-fords and likewise sacred shrines, so by reverently resorting to them and thereby gaining merit, a person becomes a sharer in the world of the immortals (the divine realm).”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Reverent engagement with sacred places—pilgrimage sites and holy shrines—generates puṇya (merit), and that merit is presented as a cause for attaining a blessed posthumous state, described here as sharing in the realm of the immortals (devas).
Pulastya is instructing his listener within the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-centered discourse, emphasizing the spiritual efficacy of visiting and honoring tīrthas and sacred sanctuaries, and stating the promised fruit: merit leading to devaloka/amaraloka.