Shloka 23
प्रयागं च प्रभासं च पुण्यं नैमिषमेव च । तच्च विश्वेश्वरस्थानं यत्र तद्विमलं सर:
bhīṣma uvāca | prayāgaṃ ca prabhāsaṃ ca puṇyaṃ naimiṣam eva ca | tacca viśveśvarasthānaṃ yatra tad vimalaṃ saraḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « (J’invoque) Prayāga, Prabhāsa, la forêt sainte de Naimiṣa, et ce siège de Viśveśvara où repose le lac sans tache. Que ces tīrtha sacrés—avec tous les dieux, les ṛṣi, les êtres célestes, les fleuves, les montagnes, les temps et les puissances cosmiques (nommés ou non)—nous protègent à jamais. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Remembering and honoring sacred tīrthas and the divine order is presented as a means of purification and protection; it reinforces dharmic conduct by orienting the mind toward what is holy and sin-destroying.
Bhishma is reciting an invocation that names major pilgrimage sites—Prayāga, Prabhāsa, and Naimiṣa—and a Śiva-associated holy locus (Viśveśvara’s seat with a pure lake), as part of a broader protective remembrance that calls upon sacred places and cosmic powers to safeguard the listener.