Shloka 80
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
मार्कण्डेयस्य राजेन्द्र तीर्थमासाद्य दुर्लभम्,राजेन्द्र! गोमती और गंगाके लोकविख्यात संगमके समीप मार्कण्डेयजीका दुर्लभ तीर्थ है। उसमें जाकर मनुष्य अग्निष्टोमयज्ञका फल पाता और अपने कुलका उद्धार कर देता है
mārkaṇḍeyasya rājendra tīrtham āsādya durlabham | rājendra gomatyāḥ gaṅgāyāś ca lokavikhyāta-saṅgamasya samīpe mārkaṇḍeyajī-kṛtaṃ durlabhaṃ tīrtham asti | tatra gatvā manuṣyo 'gniṣṭoma-yajñasya phalaṃ prāpnoti sva-kulasya ca uddhāraṃ karoti |
Ghūlastya said: “O king, there is a rare sacred ford associated with Mārkaṇḍeya. Near the world-renowned confluence of the Gomati and the Gaṅgā lies that difficult-to-attain tīrtha of the sage. By going there, a person gains the merit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice and becomes a cause for the uplift of his own lineage.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pilgrimage to a sanctified place connected with a great ṛṣi is presented as a dharmic act whose merit can equal major Vedic sacrifices, and that merit is understood to benefit not only the individual but also one’s family line.
A speaker named Ghūlastya is guiding the king through a catalogue of sacred places, pointing out a rare tīrtha of Mārkaṇḍeya located near the celebrated confluence of the Gomati and Gaṅgā, and describing the spiritual rewards of visiting it.