Shloka 7
Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
प्रदक्षिणां यः पृथिवीं करोत्यमरसंनिभ । कि फल तस्य विप्रर्षे तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम्,देवतुल्य ब्रह्मर्ष! जो (तीर्थोंके उद्देश्यसे) सारी पृथ्वीकी परिक्रमा करता है, उसे क्या फल मिलता है? यह निश्चित करके मुझे बताइये
pradakṣiṇāṁ yaḥ pṛthivīṁ karoty amarasaṁnibha | kiṁ phalaṁ tasya viprarṣe tan me brūhi suniścitam ||
Bhīṣma asks the sage—who shines like an immortal—to state with certainty what spiritual merit accrues to a person who undertakes a full circumambulation of the earth as a pilgrimage. The question frames pilgrimage not as mere travel, but as a disciplined, dharma-oriented act whose ethical value lies in intention, endurance, and reverence for sacred places.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that dharmic actions are evaluated by their intended purpose and disciplined performance: a world-circumambulation undertaken as a pilgrimage is treated as a serious spiritual vow whose ‘fruit’ (phala) is worth clarifying authoritatively.
Bhīṣma addresses a Brahmin sage, praising him as godlike, and asks for a definitive statement about the merit gained by someone who travels around the entire earth in the spirit of visiting sacred places (tīrthas).