Shloka 155
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
नन्दिन्यां च समासाद्य कूपं देवनिषेवितम् | नरमेधस्य यत् पुण्यं तदाप्रोति नराधिप,नन्दिनीतीर्थमें देवताओंद्वारा सेवित एक कूप है। नरेश्वर! वहाँ जाकर स्नान करनेसे मानव नरमेधयज्ञका पुण्यफल प्राप्त करता है
nandinīyāṃ ca samāsādya kūpaṃ devaniṣevitam | naramedhasya yat puṇyaṃ tad āpnoti narādhipa ||
O king, there is at Nandinī a well frequented by the gods. By reaching it and bathing there, a man attains the same meritorious fruit that is said to arise from the Naramedha sacrifice—thus the passage elevates pilgrimage and purification as an ethical alternative to violent ritual, presenting sacred bathing as a dharmic means to great spiritual merit.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that immense religious merit can be gained through non-violent, purifying acts like pilgrimage and bathing at a sacred tīrtha, presented as ethically preferable while still spiritually potent—equal in fruit to a famed great sacrifice.
The speaker is describing a specific sacred site—Nandinī—highlighting a well visited by the gods and telling the king that bathing there grants extraordinary merit, as part of a broader tīrtha-māhātmya (praise of pilgrimage places) discourse.