Shloka 22
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
अश्वमेधमवाप्रोति गाणपत्यं च विन्दति । धूमावतीं ततो गच्छेत् त्रिरात्रोपोषितो नर:
aśvamedham avāpnoti gāṇapatyaṃ ca vindati | dhūmāvatīṃ tato gacchet trirātro-poṣito naraḥ ||
He attains the merit of an Aśvamedha sacrifice and also gains the fruit associated with the Gaṇapatya rite. Thereafter, having fasted for three nights, a man should proceed to Dhūmāvatī—implying a disciplined pilgrimage in which austerity and right observance are presented as the means to great sacrificial merit without violence or royal power.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates disciplined observance—especially fasting and prescribed pilgrimage—as a dharmic path capable of yielding the highest sacrificial fruits, suggesting that inner restraint and correct practice can substitute for costly or violent rites.
The speaker is listing tīrtha-related observances and their results: by undertaking a three-night fast and then going to the sacred site called Dhūmāvatī, one is said to gain the merit of major rites such as the Aśvamedha and the Gaṇapatya observance.