Shloka 54
ततो गच्छेत राजेन्द्र सुतीर्थकमनुत्तमम्,अश्वमेधमवाप्रोति पितृलोक॑ च गच्छति । राजेन्द्र! वहाँसे परम उत्तम सुतीर्थमें जाय। वहाँ देवतालोग पितरोंके साथ सदा विद्यमान रहते हैं। वहाँ पितरों और देवताओंके पूजनमें तत्पर हो स्नान करे। इससे तीर्थयात्री अश्वमेधयज्ञका फल पाता और पितृलोकमें जाता है
tato gacchet rājendra sutīrthakam anuttamam | aśvamedham avāpnoti pitṛlokaṁ ca gacchati ||
Then, O best of kings, one should proceed to the unsurpassed holy ford called Sutīrthaka. By bathing there with devoted attention to the worship of the Fathers and the gods—who are said to be ever present there together— a pilgrim attains the merit of an Aśvamedha sacrifice and gains passage to the world of the ancestors. The verse frames pilgrimage not as mere travel, but as disciplined reverence that yields great sacrificial fruit through purity, faith, and honoring one’s lineage.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Reverent pilgrimage and ritual bathing performed with worship of the gods and especially the ancestors yields extraordinary merit—equated here with the fruit of an Aśvamedha—and supports one’s onward journey to Pitṛloka; dharma is expressed through purity, faith, and honoring lineage.
A speaker instructs the addressed king about the next sacred destination in a tīrtha itinerary: he should go to the excellent tīrtha Sutīrthaka, where gods and ancestors are believed to be present, and bathe there with worship; the promised result is great sacrificial merit and attainment of the ancestral realm.