Shloka 179
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
तत्र स्नात्वा स्थितो रात्रि रुद्रलोकमवाप्नुयात् । तदनन्तर त्रिभुवनविख्यात स्थाणुवटतीर्थमें जाय, वहाँ स्नान करके रातभर निवास करनेवाला मनुष्य रुद्रलोकमें जाता है || १७८ $ ।। बदरीपाचनं गच्छेद् वसिष्ठस्याश्रमं ततः,अहोरात्रोपवासेन शक्रलोके महीयते । तदनन्तर बदरीपाचन नामसे प्रसिद्ध वसिष्ठके आश्रमपर जाय और वहाँ तीन रात उपवासपूर्वक रहकर बेरका फल खाय। जो मनुष्य वहाँ बारह वर्षोतक भलीभाँति त्रिरात्रोपवासपूर्वक बेरका फल खाता है, वह उन्हीं वसिष्ठके समान होता है। राजन! नरेश्वर! तीर्थसेवी मनुष्य रुद्रमार्गमें जाकर एक दिन-रात उपवास करे। इससे वह इन्द्रलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है
tatra snātvā sthito rātri rudralokam avāpnuyāt | tadanantaraṁ tribhuvanavikhyāta-sthāṇuvaṭatīrthaṁ yāyāt; tatra snātvā rātribharaṁ nivāsī manuṣyo rudralokaṁ gacchati || badarīpācanaṁ gacched vasiṣṭhasyāśramaṁ tataḥ | ahorātro-pavāsena śakraloke mahīyate |
Having bathed there, one who remains for the night is said to attain Rudra’s world. Thereafter, one should go to the famed pilgrimage-site called Sthāṇuvaṭa, renowned throughout the three worlds; bathing there and staying through the night leads a pilgrim to Rudra’s realm. Next, one should proceed to Badarīpācana, to the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha; by fasting for a full day and night, one is honored in Śakra’s (Indra’s) world. The passage frames pilgrimage as disciplined self-restraint—purification through bathing, vigil, and fasting—linking bodily austerity with moral and spiritual elevation.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that disciplined pilgrimage—bathing, keeping vigil through the night, and fasting—functions as a form of tapas that purifies the pilgrim and yields spiritual merit, symbolized by attaining honored divine realms (Rudra’s and Indra’s worlds).
A speaker describes a sequence of sacred sites to be visited in a tīrtha-journey: first a place where bathing and staying the night grants Rudraloka, then the celebrated Sthāṇuvaṭa-tīrtha with the same night-vigil result, and then Badarīpācana at Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage where a day-night fast brings honor in Śakraloka.