Shloka 35
गड्भायमुनयोर्म ध्ये स्नाति यः संगमे नरः । दशाश्वमेधानाप्रोति कुलं चैव समुद्धरेत्,जो मनुष्य गंगा-यमुनाके बीच संगम (प्रयाग)-में स्नान करता है, उसे दस अश्वमेधयज्ञोंका फल मिलता है और वह अपने कुलका उद्धार कर देता है
gaṅgā-yamunayor madhye snāti yaḥ saṅgame naraḥ | daśāśvamedhān āpnoti kulaṃ caiva samuddharet ||
Ghūlastya said: “A man who bathes at the confluence—the sacred meeting-point between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā—wins the merit equal to ten Aśvamedha sacrifices, and he becomes a cause for the uplift and deliverance of his lineage.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the Mahābhārata’s tīrtha-māhātmya ethic: sincere pilgrimage and ritual purification at a supremely sacred place can generate immense spiritual merit—comparable to major Vedic sacrifices—and that merit is envisioned as benefiting not only the individual but also one’s lineage.
In the context of Vana Parva’s pilgrimage discourse, the speaker (Ghūlastya) praises the sanctity of Prayāga—the confluence of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā—by declaring the extraordinary fruit of bathing there: merit equal to ten Aśvamedhas and the uplift of one’s family line.