Shloka 156
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
कालिकासंगमे स्नात्वा कौशिक्यरुणयोर्गत: । त्रिरात्रोपोषितो राजन् सर्वपापै: प्रमुच्यते,राजन्! कौशिकी-अरुणा-संगम और कालिका-संगममें स्नान करके तीन रात उपवास करनेवाला मनुष्य सब पापोंसे मुक्त हो जाता है
kālikāsaṅgame snātvā kauśikyāruṇayor gataḥ | trirātropoṣito rājan sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate rājan ||
Wahai Raja, barangsiapa mandi di pertemuan sungai Kālikā, lalu pergi ke tempat bertemunya Kauśikī dan Aruṇā, kemudian berpuasa selama tiga malam, ia terbebas dari segala dosa.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purification is achieved through a combination of sacred bathing at tīrthas (river confluences) and disciplined self-restraint (a three-night fast). The verse links external ritual acts with inner ethical renewal, presenting pilgrimage as a dharmic practice of atonement and moral reorientation.
Within the tīrtha-māhātmya context of the Vana Parva, the speaker instructs the king about the spiritual benefit of visiting specific confluences—Kālikā-saṅgama and the meeting of the Kauśikī and Aruṇā—and undertaking a three-night fast there, promising release from sins as the fruit of the observance.