तस्य पापक्षयकरं पुण्यं ब्रूहि द्विजोत्तम । येन मुक्तिर्भवेत्सद्यो यदि तुष्टोऽसि मे प्रभो
tasya pāpakṣayakaraṃ puṇyaṃ brūhi dvijottama | yena muktirbhavetsadyo yadi tuṣṭo'si me prabho
«Dis-moi, ô le meilleur des brāhmanes, le mérite qui consume ses péchés—par lequel la délivrance (mokṣa) naîtrait aussitôt—si tu es satisfait de moi, ô seigneur.»
Ānarta
Scene: A supplicant devotee with folded hands addresses a venerable brāhmaṇa-sage in a tīrtha setting, asking for a sin-destroying method that grants swift liberation.
Purāṇic spirituality seeks not only moral repair (pāpa-kṣaya) but also the highest goal—liberation—through prescribed puṇya and right guidance.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as the opening inquiry that typically leads to a kṣetra/tīrtha-based answer in the following verses.
A request is made for the puṇya/practice that destroys sin and yields mokṣa; the prescription itself is expected in subsequent verses.