Shloka 9

Devanagari script

शोणस्य नर्मदायाश्च प्रभवे कुरुनन्दन । वंशगुल्म उपस्पृश्य वाजिमेधफलं लभेत्‌,कुरुनन्दन! शोण और नर्मदाके उत्पत्तिस्थान वंशगुल्मतीर्थमें स्नान करके तीर्थयात्री अश्वमेधयज्ञका फल पाता है

Transliteration

śoṇasya narmadāyāś ca prabhave kurunandana | vaṃśagulmam upaspṛśya vājimedhaphalaṃ labhet ||

Translation

Pulastya said: “O delight of the Kurus, at Vaṃśagulma—the sacred ford where the rivers Śoṇa and Narmadā arise—one who bathes and performs the prescribed rite of contact with the tīrtha gains the merit equivalent to an Aśvamedha sacrifice.” The passage frames pilgrimage as an ethically accessible path to great religious merit through purity, restraint, and reverence rather than royal power.

Word by Word

शोणस्यof (the river) Śoṇa

नर्मदायाःof (the river) Narmadā

चand

प्रभवेat the source/origin-place

कुरुनन्दनO delight of the Kurus (O Kuru-prince)

वंशगुल्मम्Vaṃśagulma (name of a tīrtha/place)

उपस्पृश्यhaving bathed/touched water (performed ablution)

वाजिमेधफलम्the fruit (merit) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice

लभेत्would obtain / may obtain

Speaker

पुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pulastya

Kurunandana

Śoṇa (river)

Narmadā (river)

Vaṃśagulma (tīrtha)

Aśvamedha (Vājimedha) sacrifice

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?

Great spiritual merit is not limited to kings who can perform grand sacrifices; sincere pilgrimage and proper observance at a sacred tīrtha can confer comparable puṇya, emphasizing accessible dharma through purity and devotion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sage Pulastya instructs the Kuru prince (Kurunandana) during a tīrtha-yātrā discourse, praising Vaṃśagulma—linked with the origins of the Śoṇa and Narmadā—and stating that bathing/ritual contact there yields the merit of an Aśvamedha.