Shloka 1446
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
न दुर्गतिमवाप्नोति विन्देद् बहु सुवर्णकम् । ऐसा करनेसे एक मासमें ही अश्वमेधयज्ञका पुण्यफल प्राप्त हो जाता है। जो सब तीर्थो्में उत्तम महाह्ृदमें स्नान करता है वह कभी दुर्गतिको नहीं प्राप्त होता और प्रचुर सुवर्णराशि प्राप्त कर लेता है
na durgatim avāpnoti vinded bahu suvarṇakam |
Ghūlastya said: “One who bathes in the great lake Mahāhṛda—held to be the best among all sacred fords—never falls into an evil destiny and gains abundant gold. By performing this act, within a single month one attains the merit equivalent to an Aśvamedha sacrifice.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that sincere pilgrimage practice—specifically bathing at the eminent tīrtha Mahāhṛda—can confer great spiritual merit, protecting one from ‘durgati’ (a bad end or rebirth) and yielding prosperity; it elevates tīrtha-snānā as an accessible equivalent in merit to grand royal sacrifices like the Aśvamedha.
In the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-yātrā context, the speaker Ghūlastya is describing the extraordinary rewards associated with a particular sacred place, Mahāhṛda, praising its superiority among pilgrimage sites and stating the benefits of bathing there.