Shloka 78
प्रजापतिमुपासन्ते ऋषयश्न तपोधना: । यजन्ते क्रतुभिर्देवास्तथा चक्रधरा नृपा:,ऋषियोंने प्रयागको जघनस्थानीय उपस्थ बताया है। प्रतिष्ठानपुर (झूसी)-सहित प्रयाग, कम्बल और अश्वतर नाग तथा भोगवतीतीर्थ यह ब्रह्माजीकी वेदी है। युधिष्ठिर! उस तीर्थमें वेद और यज्ञ मूर्तिमान् होकर रहते हैं और प्रजापतिकी उपासना करते हैं। तपोधन ऋषि, देवता तथा चक्रधर नृपतिगण वहाँ यज्ञोंद्वारा भगवानका यजन करते हैं। भरतनन्दन! इसीलिये तीनों लोकोंमें प्रयागको सब तीर्थोकी अपेक्षा श्रेष्ठ एवं पुण्यतम बताते हैं। उस तीर्थमें जानेसे अथवा उसका नाम लेनेमात्रसे भी मनुष्य मृत्युकालके भय और पापसे मुक्त हो जाता है
prajāpatim upāsante ṛṣayaś ca tapodhanāḥ | yajante kratubhir devās tathā cakradharā nṛpāḥ ||
Pulastya said: “The ascetic sages, rich in austerity, worship Prajāpati there. The gods too offer worship through sacrificial rites, and likewise the wheel-bearing kings perform sacrifices. Thus that sacred place is upheld by disciplined devotion and ritual duty, and it is praised as supremely purifying because it gathers together the highest forms of dharma—reverence for the Creator, self-restraint, and yajña.”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
True purification and merit arise from aligning oneself with dharma through devotion (upāsanā), self-discipline (tapas), and sacrificial responsibility (yajña); even the highest beings—sages, gods, and kings—model this by worshipping Prajāpati through rites.
Pulastya describes a supremely sacred setting where Prajāpati is worshipped: ascetic sages practice reverence, the gods perform sacrifices, and sovereign kings also conduct yajñas—presenting the place as a convergence of cosmic and royal religious duty.