Shloka 90
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
सर्व कृतयुगे पुण्यं त्रेतायां पुष्करं स्मृतम् । द्वापरेडपि कुरुक्षेत्र गड़ा कलियुगे स्मृता,जैसे अग्नि ईंधनको जला देती है, उसी प्रकार सैकड़ों निषिद्ध कर्म करके भी यदि गंगास्नान किया जाय तो उसका जल उन सब पापोंको भस्म कर देता है। सत्ययुगमें सभी तीर्थ पुण्यदायक होते हैं। त्रेतामें पुष्करका महत्त्व है। द्वापरमें कुरुक्षेत्र विशेष पुण्यदायक है और कलियुगमें गंगाकी अधिक महिमा बतायी गयी है। पुष्करमें तप करे, महालयमें दान दे, मलय पर्वतमें अग्निपर आरूढ हो और भृगुतुंगमें उपवास करे
sarve kṛtayuge puṇyaṁ tretāyāṁ puṣkaraṁ smṛtam | dvāpare 'pi kurukṣetraṁ gaṅgā kaliyuge smṛtā ||
Pulastya said: “In the Kṛta age, all sacred fords are regarded as meritorious. In the Tretā age, Puṣkara is remembered as pre-eminent. In the Dvāpara age, Kurukṣetra is likewise famed; and in the Kali age, the Gaṅgā is especially celebrated. Just as fire consumes fuel, so the waters of the Gaṅgā, when one bathes in them, are said to burn away the sins accumulated even through many forbidden acts.”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches yuga-specific prominence of certain tīrthas: while all tīrthas are meritorious in Kṛta, Puṣkara is foremost in Tretā, Kurukṣetra in Dvāpara, and the Gaṅgā in Kali. It underscores the ethical idea that sincere contact with a highly revered tīrtha—especially Gaṅgā-bathing in Kali—functions as a powerful means of purification from sin.
Pulastya is instructing about the relative spiritual efficacy of pilgrimage places across the four yugas, situating sacred geography within a moral framework of expiation and merit. The surrounding prose (in the cited passage) expands this by comparing Gaṅgā’s purifying power to fire consuming fuel and by listing other exemplary austerities and holy acts connected with specific places.