Shloka 92

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

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मणेन भवेच्चीर्ण व्रतं द्वादशवार्षिकम्‌ । इतरेषां तु वर्णानां सर्वपापं प्रणश्यति

Transliteration

brāhmaṇena bhavec cīrṇaṁ vrataṁ dvādaśavārṣikam | itareṣāṁ tu varṇānāṁ sarvapāpaṁ praṇaśyati ||

Translation

Ghūlastya déclara : «En accomplissant ce pèlerinage, un brahmane obtient un mérite égal à celui d’un vœu observé durant douze années ; et pour les gens des autres ordres, tout péché est anéanti.»

Word by Word

• ब्राह्मणेन: by/for a Brahmin
• ब्राह्मणेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• भवेत्: would be / would occur / would result
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• चीर्णम्: performed/observed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चर् (√चर्) → चीर्ण (past passive participle)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• व्रतम्: vow/observance
• व्रतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्रत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• द्वादशवार्षिकम्: of twelve years (twelve-year-long)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वादश-वार्षिक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• इतरेषाम्: of the others
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इतर
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• तु: but/and (contrastive)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• वर्णानाम्: of the social classes (varṇas)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• सर्वपापम्: all sin
• सर्वपापम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व-पाप
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• प्रणश्यति: is destroyed/perishes
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-नश् (√नश्)
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghūlastya
• Brahmin
• other varṇas
• pilgrimage (yātrā, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pilgrimage to a sacred place can yield immense spiritual merit: for a Brahmin it equals the fruit of a rigorous twelve-year vow, and for others it functions as a powerful means of moral purification, destroying accumulated sin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya is describing the extraordinary efficacy of a particular sacred journey (tīrtha-yātrā), explaining its results for different varṇas in terms of merit (puṇya) and the removal of sin (pāpa).