Shloka 197
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
यः श्राद्ध कुरुते मर्त्यस्तस्य पुण्यफलं शृणु । अश्वमेधसहस्रस्य सम्यगिष्टस्थ यत् फलम्,राजन! उसमें स्नान और जलपान करके मनुष्य स्वर्गलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है। जो सूर्यग्रहणके समय अमावास्याको वहाँ पितरोंका श्राद्ध करता है, उसके पुण्यफलका वर्णन सुनो--। भलीभाँति सम्पन्न किये हुए सहस्र अश्वमेध यज्ञोंका जो फल होता है, उसे मनुष्य उस तीर्थमें स्नानमात्र करके अथवा श्राद्ध करके पा लेता है। स्त्री या पुरुषने जो कुछ भी दुष्कर्म किया हो, वह सब वहाँ स्नान करनेमात्रसे नष्ट हो जाता है; इसमें संशय नहीं है। वह पुरुष कमलके समान रंगवाले विमानद्वारा ब्रह्मलोकमें जाता है
yaḥ śrāddhaṁ kurute martyas tasya puṇyaphalaṁ śṛṇu | aśvamedhasahasrasya samyagiṣṭasya yat phalam |
Ghūlastya said: “Listen to the merit that accrues to a mortal who performs śrāddha. O king, whatever fruit is obtained from a thousand Aśvamedha sacrifices, each properly completed, that same fruit is gained here by merely bathing at this sacred ford—or by offering śrāddha. Even if a woman or a man has committed wrongdoing, it is destroyed simply by bathing here; of this there is no doubt. Such a person attains the Brahma-world, borne in a lotus-hued celestial chariot.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that śrāddha and tīrtha-bathing, when done with proper intent and at an auspicious time, are powerful dharmic acts: they generate immense merit—comparable to major royal sacrifices—and function as expiation, cleansing moral faults and orienting one toward higher post-mortem realms.
A sage-like speaker (Ghūlastya) addresses a king and extols the extraordinary spiritual efficacy of a particular sacred place and rite: by bathing there and/or performing śrāddha (especially in the eclipse/new-moon context mentioned in the surrounding prose), one gains the reward of vast sacrifices and is promised heavenly ascent up to Brahmaloka.