Shloka 66

Devanagari script

तम्मिंस्तीर्थे महाबाहो स्नात्वा पापै: प्रमुच्यते । गड्जायां तु नरः स्नात्वा ब्रह्मचारी समाहित:

Transliteration

tasmiṁs tīrthe mahābāho snātvā pāpaiḥ pramucyate | gaḍjāyāṁ tu naraḥ snātvā brahmacārī samāhitaḥ ||

Translation

O mighty-armed one, by bathing at that sacred ford a person is released from sins. And indeed, having bathed in the Gaḍjā, a man becomes a disciplined brahmacārin—self-restrained and inwardly collected. The passage frames pilgrimage not as mere travel, but as ethical purification culminating in renewed vows and mental steadiness.

Word by Word

तस्मिन्in that

तीर्थेat the sacred ford/pilgrimage spot

महाबाहोO mighty-armed one

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

पापैःfrom sins/evil deeds

प्रमुच्यतेis freed/released

गङ्गायाम्in the Ganga

तुbut/indeed

नरःa man

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

ब्रह्मचारीa celibate/student (brahmacārin)

समाहितःcomposed/collected (in mind)

Speaker

पुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pulastya

tīrtha

Gaḍjā

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sacred bathing at a tīrtha is presented as a means of moral purification, but its deeper fruit is ethical transformation: renewed self-restraint (brahmacarya) and mental composure (samāhita).

What is happening in the narrative?

Pulastya continues a tīrtha-māhātmya-style instruction, describing the spiritual benefits of bathing at a particular sacred place and specifically at the Gaḍjā, emphasizing liberation from sin and the cultivation of disciplined conduct.