Shloka 56
जो छठे समय उपवासपूर्वक एक मासतक महालयतीर्थमें निवास करता है, वह सब पापोंसे शुद्धचित्त हो प्रचुर सुवर्णराशि प्राप्त करता है। साथ ही दस पहलेकी और दस बादकी पीढ़ियोंका उद्धार कर देता है ।। अथ वेतसिकां गत्वा पितामहनिषेविताम् | अश्वमेधमवाप्रोति गच्छेदौशनसीं गतिम्,तत्पश्चात् ब्रह्माजीके द्वारा सेवित वेतसिकातीर्थमें जाकर मनुष्य अश्वमेधयज्ञका फल पाता और शुक्राचार्यके लोकमें जाता है
yaḥ ṣaṣṭhe samaye upavāsa-pūrvakaṃ eka-māsatakaṃ mahālayatīrthe nivāsaṃ karoti, sa sarva-pāpebhyaḥ śuddha-cittaḥ bhūtvā pracura-suvarṇa-rāśiṃ prāpnoti; sārdhaṃ ca daśa pūrvakīnāṃ daśa cāparakīnāṃ pīḍhīnāṃ uddhāraṃ karoti. atha vetasikāṃ gatvā pitāmaha-niṣevitām, aśvamedham avāpnoti, gacched auśanasīṃ gatim; tataḥ paścāt brahmājī-kṛta-niṣevitāyāṃ vetasikā-tīrthe gatvā manuṣyaḥ aśvamedha-yajñasya phalaṃ prāpnoti śukrācārya-lokaṃ ca gacchati.
Ghūlastya said: “Whoever, at the prescribed sixth time, undertakes a fast and then dwells for a full month at the Mahālaya sacred ford becomes purified of all sins, gains abundant heaps of gold, and moreover brings deliverance to ten generations before and ten generations after him. Then, going to Vetasikā—visited by Pitāmaha—one obtains the merit of an Aśvamedha sacrifice and attains the path leading to Auśanasa (Śukra). Thereafter, at the Vetasikā tīrtha revered even by Brahmā, a person receives the fruit of the Aśvamedha and goes to the world of Śukrācārya.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that disciplined austerity (fasting) combined with sustained residence at a sacred tīrtha is portrayed as powerfully purifying, yielding both personal merit (inner purification and prosperity) and transgenerational benefit (uplift of ancestors and descendants). It also equates tīrtha-observance with the highest royal sacrifice (Aśvamedha), emphasizing ethical self-restraint over costly ritual display.
A speaker named Ghūlastya is describing the fruits of specific pilgrimage observances: staying a month at Mahālaya with a prescribed fast, then visiting the Vetasikā tīrtha associated with Pitāmaha/Brahmā. These acts are said to confer Aśvamedha-level merit and lead to an exalted posthumous destination identified with Śukra (Śukrācārya).