Shloka 4

आदि पर्व — खाण्डवदाह प्रसङ्गः: पावकस्य याचनं तथा इन्द्रवर्षनिवारणोपायः

Adi Parva — Khāṇḍava episode: Agni’s request and the means to resist Indra’s rain

Devanagari script

भारद्वाजस्य तीर्थ तु पापप्रशमनं महत्‌ | एतानि पज्च तीर्थानि ददर्श कुरुसत्तम:,उनके नाम इस प्रकार हैं--अगस्त्यतीर्थ, सौभद्र-तीर्थ, परम पावन पौलोमतीर्थ, अश्वमेध यज्ञका फल देनेवाला स्वच्छ कारन्धमतीर्थ तथा पापनाशक महान्‌ भारद्वाजतीर्थ। कुरुश्रेष्ठ अर्जुनने इन पाँचों तीर्थोका दर्शन किया

Transliteration

bhāradvājasya tīrthaṁ tu pāpa-praśamanaṁ mahat | etāni pañca tīrthāni dadarśa kuru-sattamaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Great indeed is Bhāradvāja’s sacred ford, renowned for the pacification and removal of sin. The best of the Kurus beheld these five tīrthas,”—a pilgrimage sequence that frames Arjuna’s journey as moral purification, where contact with sanctified places is presented as a means of ethical cleansing and renewed inner discipline.

Word by Word

• {'bhāradvājasya': 'of Bhāradvāja (the sage

• genitive singular)', 'tīrtham': 'sacred ford

• holy bathing spot', 'tu': 'indeed

• but (emphatic particle)', 'pāpa': 'sin

• moral stain', 'praśamanam': 'pacification

• removal', 'mahat': 'great

• eminent', 'etāni': 'these (neuter plural)', 'pañca': 'five', 'tīrthāni': 'holy places (plural of tīrtha)', 'dadarśa': 'saw

• beheld (perfect of √dṛś)', 'kuru-sattamaḥ': 'the best among the Kurus (epithet

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhāradvāja
• Arjuna (Kuru-sattama)
• Bhāradvāja-tīrtha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tīrtha-yātrā as an ethical practice: sacred places are portrayed as instruments for pāpa-praśamana (the calming and removal of moral taint), encouraging self-restraint, repentance, and renewed commitment to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Arjuna, praised as the foremost of the Kurus, visits and beholds a set of five pilgrimage sites, among which Bhāradvāja’s tīrtha is singled out as especially powerful for removing sin.