Shloka 128
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
विराजति यथा सोमो मेघैर्मुक्तो नराधिप । जातिस्मरमुपस्पृश्य शुचि: प्रयतमानस:,राजेन्द्र! उसमें निवास करनेसे मनुष्य कभी दुर्गतिमें नहीं पड़ता। सबको वर देनेवाले अविनाशी महादेव रुद्रके समीप जाकर मनुष्य मेघोंके आवरणसे मुक्त हुए चन्द्रमाकी भाँति सुशोभित होता है। नरेश्वर! वहीं जातिस्मरतीर्थ है; जिसमें स्नान करके मनुष्य पवित्र एवं शुद्धचित्त हो जाता है। अर्थात् उसके शरीर और मनकी शुद्धि हो जाती है
virājati yathā somo meghair mukto narādhipa | jātismaram upaspṛśya śuciḥ prayatamānasaḥ ||
Ghūlastya said: “O lord of men, just as the Moon shines when freed from the covering of clouds, so does a person become radiant after approaching this sacred place. By bathing at the tīrtha called Jātismara, one becomes pure, with a disciplined and cleansed mind. Dwelling here, a human being does not fall into misfortune; and by going near the imperishable boon-giving Mahādeva Rudra, one attains a state of inner and outer purification.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pilgrimage and ritual bathing at a sacred tīrtha, combined with disciplined intention, purify both body and mind; proximity to Mahādeva (Rudra) is portrayed as removing the ‘covering’ of impurity and misfortune, like clouds leaving the Moon.
Ghūlastya addresses a king and praises a specific sacred site—Jātismara-tīrtha—describing its power to prevent downfall and to purify the pilgrim, using the image of the Moon shining once clouds disperse, and linking the tīrtha’s efficacy to nearness to Rudra.