Shloka 53

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

Devanagari script

उपस्पृश्य च वै विद्यां यत्र तत्रोपपद्यते । महाश्रमे वसेद्‌ रात्रिं सर्वपापप्रमोचने

Transliteration

upaspṛśya ca vai vidyāṃ yatra tatrōpapadyate | mahāśrame vased rātriṃ sarvapāpapramocane ||

Translation

Tras cumplir el rito purificador de tocar el agua y asumir debidamente el saber sagrado, uno se vuelve apto para él dondequiera que se halle. Debe pasarse la noche en el gran eremitorio, del que se dice que libera de todos los pecados, para que el aprendizaje vaya unido a la pureza y a la disciplina.

Word by Word

उपस्पृश्यhaving touched/after performing ācamana (ritual touching/purification)

चand

वैindeed

विद्याम्knowledge/learning (sacred lore)

यत्रwhere

तत्रthere

उपपद्यतेis attained/comes to pass; is obtained

महाश्रमेin the great hermitage/āśrama

वसेत्should dwell/stay

रात्रिम्night

सर्वपापप्रमोचनेin (the place) that is the remover of all sins

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

म

महाश्रम (great hermitage/āśrama)

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?

Purity of conduct (symbolized by upaspṛśya/ācamana) and disciplined engagement with sacred knowledge are linked; staying in a sanctified hermitage is presented as a means of moral cleansing and renewal.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker gives a prescriptive instruction: after performing purification and taking up learning properly, one should spend the night at a renowned hermitage described as capable of freeing one from sin—typical of Vana Parva’s guidance on holy places and observances.