Shloka 21

Devanagari script

कृतशौचं समासाद्य तीर्थसेवी नराधिप । पुण्डरीकमवाप्नोति कृतशौचो भवेच्च स:,एकहंसतीर्थमें स्नान करनेसे मनुष्य सहस्र गोदानका फल पाता है। नरेश्वर! कृतशौचतीर्थमें जाकर तीर्थसेवी मनुष्य पुण्डरीकयागका फल पाता और शुद्ध हो जाता है

Transliteration

kṛtaśaucaṃ samāsādya tīrthasevī narādhipa | puṇḍarīkam avāpnoti kṛtaśauco bhavec ca saḥ ||

Translation

Ghūlastya said: O king, a pilgrim who approaches the sacred ford called Kṛtaśauca attains the merit of the Puṇḍarīka sacrifice; by that act he becomes purified. The verse underscores the ethical idea that sincere engagement with tīrthas—undertaken with discipline and reverence—functions as a means of inner cleansing and moral renewal, not merely as an external rite.

Word by Word

कृतशौचम्Kṛtaśauca (the tīrtha/place named Kṛtaśauca)

समासाद्यhaving reached/approached

तीर्थसेवीa frequenter/attendant of sacred fords (tīrthas)

नराधिपO king (lord of men)

पुण्डरीकम्Puṇḍarīka (name of a sacrifice/merit; lit. 'lotus')

अवाप्नोतिobtains/attains

कृतशौचःpurified/cleansed

भवेत्would become/is said to become

चand

सःhe

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ghūlastya (speaker)

narādhipa (the king addressed)

Kṛtaśauca-tīrtha

Puṇḍarīka-yajña

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Approaching and reverently practicing at a tīrtha is presented as a means of purification and moral renewal; the text equates such sincere pilgrimage with the high merit of major Vedic sacrifices (here, the Puṇḍarīka).

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya addresses a king and describes the spiritual benefit of visiting the Kṛtaśauca tīrtha, stating that the pilgrim gains the fruit of the Puṇḍarīka sacrifice and becomes purified.