Shloka 68

Devanagari script

|| ततः क्षीरवतीं गच्छेत्‌ पुण्यां पुण्यतरैर्वृताम्‌

Transliteration

tataḥ kṣīravatīṁ gacchet puṇyāṁ puṇyatarair vṛtām

Translation

Then one should proceed to the sacred river Kṣīravatī, a holy place surrounded by people and presences of even greater sanctity—an instruction that frames pilgrimage as a deliberate ethical act: moving from one purifying locus to another in the company (and influence) of the virtuous.

Word by Word

• ततः: then; from there
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्ययम्

• क्षीरवतीम्: to Kṣīravatī (a river/place named ‘Kṣīravatī’)
• क्षीरवतीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षीरवती (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• गच्छेत्: should go
• गच्छेत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातुः)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्

• पुण्याम्: holy; meritorious
• पुण्याम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुण्य (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• पुण्यतरैः: by more holy (ones); by the more meritorious
• पुण्यतरैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुण्यतर (प्रातिपदिकम्; तुलनात्मकः)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः/नपुंसकलिङ्गः, तृतीया-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• वृताम्: surrounded; encompassed
• वृताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृत (√वृ ‘to cover/surround’, क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्तः)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kṣīravatī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage) as a dharmic discipline: one should intentionally go to a sacred place, and the holiness is heightened by association with the more virtuous—suggesting that moral company and sacred geography together support inner purification.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker continues a sequence of pilgrimage instructions, directing the listener to go next to the holy Kṣīravatī, described as sacred and surrounded by even more meritorious beings/attendants, as part of a broader tīrtha itinerary in Vana Parva.