Shloka 144

Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga

Pulastya’s Instruction

Devanagari script

तत्‌ सर्व नश्यते तत्र स्नातमात्रस्थ भारत । अश्वमेधफलं चास्य स्वर्गलोक॑ च गच्छति,भारत! स्त्री हो या पुरुष, उसने मानव-बुद्धिसे अनजानमें या जान-बूझकर जो कुछ भी पापकर्म किया है, वह सब पृथूदकतीर्थमें स्नान करनेमात्रसे नष्ट हो जाता है और तीर्थसेवी पुरुषको अश्वमेधयज्ञके फल एवं स्वर्गलोककी प्राप्ति होती है

Transliteration

tat sarvaṁ naśyate tatra snātamātrastha bhārata | aśvamedhaphalaṁ cāsya svargalokaṁ ca gacchati bhārata ||

Translation

Ghūlastya said: “O Bhārata, at that sacred place, all sin is destroyed merely by bathing. Whoever serves that tīrtha—whether woman or man—has whatever wrongdoing they have committed, unknowingly through human frailty or knowingly by choice, washed away by a single bath at the Pṛthūdaka ford; and the pilgrim gains the merit of an Aśvamedha sacrifice and attains heaven.”

Word by Word

• {'tat sarvam': 'all that (i.e., all sin/evil deeds)', 'naśyate': 'is destroyed, perishes', 'tatra': 'there (in that place/tīrtha)', 'snāta-mātra': 'merely by bathing

• by the act of bathing alone', 'bhārata': 'O descendant of Bharata (address to a Bharata prince, typically Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'aśvamedha-phalam': 'the fruit/merit of the Aśvamedha sacrifice', 'ca': 'and', 'asya': 'for him/for that person (the tīrtha-servant/pilgrim)', 'svarga-lokam': 'the world of heaven', 'gacchati': 'goes, attains', 'tīrtha-sevī': 'one who frequents/serves a pilgrimage place

• pilgrim-devotee', 'pāpa-karman': 'sinful act, wrongdoing', 'ajñānataḥ': 'unknowingly, in ignorance', 'jñātvā': 'knowingly, deliberately', 'pṛthūdaka-tīrtha': 'the Pṛthūdaka pilgrimage ford (place-name)'}

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghūlastya
• Bhārata
• Pṛthūdaka-tīrtha
• Aśvamedha (horse sacrifice)
• Svarga (heaven)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the purificatory power of tīrtha-bathing and tīrtha-sevā: sincere pilgrimage and ritual bathing are presented as potent means of expiating sins—whether committed knowingly or unknowingly—and of accruing great merit comparable to major Vedic sacrifice, culminating in heavenly attainment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-yātrā context, the speaker (Ghūlastya) praises the Pṛthūdaka tīrtha, describing its exceptional efficacy: a single bath there destroys accumulated wrongdoing, and the pilgrim who serves the sacred place gains Aśvamedha-like merit and reaches Svarga.