Shloka 25

युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya

Devanagari script

प्रदक्षिणमुपावृत्य गच्छेत भरतर्षभ । धारां नाम महाप्राज्ञ: सर्वपापप्रमोचनीम्‌,भरतश्रेष्ठ! तदनन्तर महाप्राज्ञ पुरुष उस तीर्थकी परिक्रमा करके धाराकी यात्रा करे, जो सब पापोंसे छुड़ानेवाली है

Transliteration

pradakṣiṇam upāvṛtya gacchet bharatarṣabha | dhārāṃ nāma mahāprajñaḥ sarvapāpapramocanīm ||

Translation

Ghūlastya dijo: “Oh toro entre los Bhāratas, tras completar la pradakṣiṇā (la circunvalación reverente) y volverse de nuevo, que el peregrino sabio se dirija al vado sagrado llamado Dhārā, célebre por liberar de todo pecado.”

Word by Word

प्रदक्षिणम्circumambulation (to the right)

उपावृत्यhaving gone around / having circumambulated

गच्छेतshould go

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

धाराम्to Dhārā (name of a tīrtha/place)

नामby name / called

महाप्राज्ञःthe very wise (one)

सर्वपापप्रमोचनीम्that which frees from all sins

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ghūlastya

Bharatarṣabha (honorific addressee)

Dhārā (tīrtha)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches disciplined sacred conduct: complete the rite of pradakṣiṇā with reverence, then proceed to a tīrtha famed for moral purification—implying that ethical renewal is pursued through prescribed, mindful religious practice.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker Ghūlastya is guiding the listener through a sequence of pilgrimage actions, directing them to finish a circumambulation and then travel onward to the tīrtha named Dhārā, described as removing all sins.