Shloka 4
Avanti–Narmadā–Puṣkara Tīrtha-Kathana (धौम्यकथितं तीर्थवर्णनम्)
श्रवणाच्चैव तेषां त्वं पुण्यमाप्स्यसि पाण्डव | गत्वा शतगुणं चैव तेभ्य एव नरोत्तम,“नरश्रेष्ठ पाण्डुनन्दन! उनका श्रवण करनेमात्रसे तुम्हें उनके सेवनका पुण्य प्राप्त होगा; और वहाँ जानेसे सौगुने पुण्यकी प्राप्ति होगी
śravaṇāccaiva teṣāṃ tvaṃ puṇyam āpsyasi pāṇḍava | gatvā śataguṇaṃ caiva tebhya eva narottama ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O Pāṇḍava, by merely hearing about them you will gain merit; but by going there in person, O best of men, that very merit becomes a hundredfold.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit (puṇya) arises even from respectful hearing about sacred persons/places, but undertaking the journey oneself multiplies that merit greatly—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s valuation of both receptive devotion (śravaṇa) and embodied practice (going, seeing, serving).
Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses a Pāṇḍava, encouraging him by stating that listening to accounts of the sacred brings virtue, and that visiting the referenced sacred sources directly yields a hundredfold increase—typical of the Vana Parva’s pilgrimage-and-merit discourse.