Shloka 129

Devanagari script

जातिस्मरत्वमाप्रोति स्नात्वा तत्र न संशय: । माहेश्वरपुरं गत्वा अर्चयित्वा वृषध्वजम्‌,उस तीर्थमें स्नान करनेसे पूर्वजन्मकी बातोंका स्मरण करनेकी शक्ति प्राप्त हो जाती है, इसमें संशय नहीं है। माहेश्वरपुरमें जाकर भगवान्‌ शंकरकी पूजा और उपवास करनेसे मनुष्य सम्पूर्ण मनोवांछित कामनाओं-को प्राप्त कर लेता है, इसमें तनिक भी संदेह नहीं है। तत्पश्चात्‌ सब पापोंको दूर करनेवाले वामनतीर्थकी यात्रा करके भगवान्‌ श्रीहरिके निकट जाय। उनका दर्शन करनेसे मनुष्य कभी दुर्गतिमें नहीं पड़ता। इसके बाद सब पापोंसे छुड़ानेवाले कुशिकाश्रमकी यात्रा करे

Transliteration

jātismaratvam āpnoti snātvā tatra na saṁśayaḥ | māheśvarapuraṁ gatvā arcayitvā vṛṣadhvajam |

Translation

Ghūlastya said: “By bathing at that sacred ford, one surely gains the power to remember former births—of this there is no doubt. And by going to Māheśvarapura, worshipping the Bull-bannered Lord (Śiva), and observing a fast, a person attains all desired aims; in this too there is not the slightest uncertainty.”

Word by Word

जातिस्मरत्वम्the state/power of remembering former births

आप्नोतिobtains

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

तत्रthere (in that place/at that tīrtha)

नnot

संशयःdoubt

माहेश्वरपुरम्to Maheśvara-city (Maheśvarapura)

गत्वाhaving gone

अर्चयित्वाhaving worshipped

वृषध्वजम्the Bull-bannered one (Śiva)

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ghūlastya

tīrtha (sacred bathing place)

Māheśvarapura

Vṛṣadhvaja (Śiva)

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?

The verse emphasizes the transformative power of tīrtha-practice: ritual bathing, worship, and fasting are presented as disciplined acts that purify the person, strengthen spiritual insight (even to the point of recalling past births), and help fulfill legitimate aims when directed toward devotion and self-restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya is describing the fruits of visiting specific sacred sites: bathing at a particular tīrtha grants jātismaratva (memory of former births), and going to Māheśvarapura to worship Śiva (Vṛṣadhvaja) with fasting yields the attainment of desired goals.