Shloka 36
Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
यस्तु वर्षशतं पूर्णमग्निहोत्रमुपासते,जो पूरे सौ वर्षोतक अग्निहोत्र करता है और जो कार्तिककी एक ही पूर्णिमाको पुष्करमें वास करता है, दोनोंका फल बराबर है
yastu varṣaśataṁ pūrṇam agnihotram upāsate, kārtikīṁ caikāṁ pūrṇimāṁ puṣkare vasate, tayoḥ phalaṁ samam
Ghūlastya said: “He who duly maintains the Agnihotra for a full hundred years, and he who resides at Puṣkara for just a single full-moon day in the month of Kārttika—these two attain an equal fruit.” The statement elevates pilgrimage and sacred observance when performed with faith and right intention, presenting them as ethically comparable to long, disciplined ritual duty.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that concentrated sacred observance—specifically staying at the holy tīrtha Puṣkara on Kārttikī Pūrṇimā—can yield merit equal to a lifetime-scale ritual discipline like maintaining Agnihotra for a hundred years, highlighting the power of holy place, holy time, and sincere practice.
In the tīrtha-focused discourse of Vana Parva, the speaker Ghūlastya is describing the relative fruits of religious acts, comparing a long-term Vedic rite (Agnihotra) with a specific pilgrimage observance at Puṣkara on the Kārttika full moon, and declaring their results to be equal.