Shloka 119
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
अथ सोमपदं गच्छेद् ब्रह्मचारी समाहित: । माहेश्वरपदे स्नात्वा वाजिमेधफलं लभेत्,तदनन्तर ब्रह्मचर्यपालनपूर्वक एकाग्रचित्त हो सोमपदतीर्थमें जाय। वहाँ माहेश्वरपदमें स्नान करनेसे अश्वमेधयज्ञका फल मिलता है
atha somapadaṁ gacched brahmacārī samāhitaḥ | māheśvarapade snātvā vājimedhaphalaṁ labhet |
Ensuite, observant le célibat avec discipline et l’esprit recueilli, on doit se rendre au gué sacré nommé Somapada. Après s’être baigné au lieu appelé Māheśvarapada, on dit qu’on obtient un mérite égal à celui du sacrifice Aśvamedha.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links spiritual merit to disciplined conduct: a brahmacārī with a steady, focused mind who undertakes pilgrimage and performs purifying bathing at a Śiva-associated tīrtha is said to gain merit comparable to a grand royal sacrifice, emphasizing inner restraint and devotion over mere external power.
The speaker is describing a sequence of sacred destinations in a tīrtha-yātrā. Here, the instruction is to go next to Somapada and bathe at Māheśvarapada, with the promised result that such bathing confers the fruit of the Aśvamedha.