Shloka 48
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
ऋषिकुल्यां समासाद्य वासिष्ठं चैव भारत | वासिष्ठीं समतिक्रम्य सर्वे वर्णा द्विजातय:
ṛṣikulyāṃ samāsādya vāsiṣṭhaṃ caiva bhārata | vāsiṣṭhīṃ samatikramya sarve varṇā dvijātayaḥ ||
Ghūlastya dit : «Ô Bhārata, ayant atteint le gué sacré nommé Ṛṣikulyā ainsi que le tīrtha de Vāsiṣṭha, tous les hommes de tout ordre—kṣatriya et autres—qui s’y baignent puis franchissent au-delà la Vāsiṣṭhī deviennent “deux fois nés”.»
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents tīrtha as a transformative moral force: by approaching a revered sacred site and performing the proper observance (notably bathing), a person is said to gain purification and a renewed status symbolized as ‘twice-born.’ It underscores the Mahābhārata theme that inner and outer purification, pursued through dharmic practice, can elevate one’s ethical standing.
A speaker named Ghūlastya addresses ‘Bhārata’ and describes the merit of specific pilgrimage sites—Ṛṣikulyā and the Vāsiṣṭha tīrtha—stating that those who bathe there and then pass beyond the Vāsiṣṭhī are regarded as dvija, i.e., as having attained a second birth through the tīrtha’s sanctifying power.