Shloka 89

Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga

Pulastya’s Instruction

Devanagari script

गोसहस्रस्य राजेन्द्र फलं विन्दति मानव: । पाणिखाते नर: स्नात्वा तर्पयित्वा च देवता:

Transliteration

gosahasrasya rājendra phalaṁ vindati mānavaḥ | pāṇikhāte naraḥ snātvā tarpayitvā ca devatāḥ ||

Translation

Oh rey de reyes, quien se baña en un pozo de agua cavado con la mano y luego ofrece las debidas libaciones (tarpana) a los dioses, obtiene un mérito igual al de donar mil vacas.

Word by Word

गोof a cow

सहस्रस्यof a thousand

राजेन्द्रO king of kings

फलंfruit/result

विन्दतिobtains/finds

मानवःa man

पाणिखातेin a hand-dug (pit/well)

नरःa man

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

तर्पयित्वाhaving satisfied (offered libations to)

चand

देवताःthe deities

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

rājendra (the king addressed)

devatāḥ (deities)

gosahasra (a thousand cows, as a meritorious gift)

pāṇikhāta (hand-dug water-pit)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that great religious merit is not limited to costly gifts; even a simple act—bathing in a hand-dug water source and performing tarpana to the deities with reverence—can yield merit comparable to donating a thousand cows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya addresses the king and explains the spiritual reward (phala) of a specific practice: bathing in a hand-dug pit and then offering libations to the deities, equating its merit with the famed charity of gifting a thousand cows.