Shloka 68

Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti

Chapter 82

Devanagari script

सागरस्य च सिन्धोशक्ष्‌ संगमं प्राप्प भारत । तीर्थे सलिलराजस्य स्नात्वा प्रयतमानस:,भारत! सतर और सिंधु नदीके संगममें जाकर वरुणतीर्थमें स्नान करके शुद्धचित्त हो देवताओं, ऋषियों तथा पितरोंका तर्पण करे। भरतकुलतिलक! ऐसा करनेसे मनुष्य दिव्य दीप्तिसे देदीप्यमान वरुणलोकको प्राप्त होता है

Transliteration

sāgarasya ca sindhoś ca saṅgamaṃ prāpya bhārata | tīrthe salilarājasya snātvā prayatamānasaḥ | devān ṛṣīn pitṝṃś caiva tarpayet satataṃ naraḥ | bharatakulatilaka evaṃ kṛtvā divyā dīptyā pradīpyamānaṃ varuṇalokaṃ prāpnoti ||

Translation

Ghūlastya said: “O Bhārata, go to the confluence of the ocean and the Sindhu. Having bathed at the sacred ford of the Lord of Waters (Varuṇa) with a disciplined and purified mind, one should continually offer libations to the gods, the seers, and the ancestors. O ornament of Bharata’s line, by doing so a person attains Varuṇa’s world, radiant with divine splendor.”

Word by Word

• {'sāgara': 'ocean, sea', 'sindhu': 'the Sindhu (Indus) river', 'saṅgama': 'confluence

• meeting-point of waters', 'prāpya/prāpnoti': 'having reached / attains', 'tīrtha': 'sacred ford

• pilgrimage place', 'salilarāja': '‘king of waters’

• epithet of Varuṇa', 'snātvā': 'having bathed', 'prayata-mānasa': 'with restrained, purified, disciplined mind', 'tarpayet': 'should satisfy/offer libations (tarpana) to', 'deva': 'gods, deities', 'ṛṣi': 'seer, sage', 'pitṛ': 'ancestors, forefathers', 'bharata / bharatakulatilaka': 'O descendant of Bharata / ‘ornament of Bharata’s lineage’ (honorific address)', 'varuṇaloka': 'the world/realm of Varuṇa', 'divya dīpti': 'divine radiance, celestial brilliance'}

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghūlastya (speaker)
• Bhārata (addressee)
• Sāgara (ocean)
• Sindhu (Indus river)
• Varuṇa (Salilarāja)
• Varuṇaloka
• Devas
• Ṛṣis
• Pitṛs

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Purification through disciplined pilgrimage and bathing at a sacred confluence, followed by tarpana (libations) to gods, sages, and ancestors, is presented as a dharmic act that yields spiritual merit and an exalted posthumous destination (Varuṇa’s realm).

What is happening in the narrative?

A sage-like speaker (Ghūlastya) instructs a Bharata-descendant about a specific pilgrimage: reaching the ocean–Sindhu confluence, bathing at Varuṇa’s tīrtha, and performing offerings to devas, ṛṣis, and pitṛs, with the promised fruit of attaining the radiant Varuṇaloka.