Shloka 7
Udīcī-diśi Tīrtha-kīrtana
Northern Sacred Places Enumeration
पयोष्ण्यां यजमानस्य वाराहे तीर्थ उत्तमे | उद्धुतं भूतलस्थं वा वायुना समुदीरितम् पयोष्ण्या हरते तोयं पापमामरणान्तिकम्,इस विषयमें हमारे सुननेमें आया है कि महायोगी एवं महायशस्वी मार्कण्डेयने यजमान राजा नृगके सामने उनके वंशके योग्य यशोगाथाका वर्णन इस प्रकार किया था --'पयोष्णीके तटपर उत्तम वाराहतीर्थमें यज्ञ करनेवाले राजा नृगके यज्ञमें इन्द्र सोमपान करके मस्त हो गये थे और प्रचुर दक्षिणा पाकर ब्राह्मणलोग भी हर्षोल्लाससे पूर्ण हो गये थे।” पयोष्णीका जल हाथसे उठाया गया हो या धरतीपर पड़ा हो अथवा वायुके वेगसे उछलकर अपने ऊपर पड़ गया हो तो वह जन्मसे लेकर मृत्युपर्यन्त किये हुए समस्त पापोंको हर लेता है
Dhaumya uvāca | Payoṣṇyāṁ yajamānasya varāhe tīrtha uttame | uddhutaṁ bhūtalasthaṁ vā vāyunā samudīritam | payoṣṇyā harate toyaṁ pāpam ā-maraṇāntikam ||
Dhaumya said: “At the supremely sacred Boar (Varāha) ford on the river Payoṣṇī, for one who is performing sacrifice, the water of the Payoṣṇī removes sin up to the very end of life—whether that water has been lifted in the hand, lies upon the ground, or has been splashed up and driven onto one by the force of the wind.”
धौम्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the purificatory power attributed to a sacred tīrtha: contact with the Payoṣṇī’s water at Varāha-tīrtha—whether deliberate or incidental—is said to remove accumulated sin, emphasizing the Mahābhārata’s tīrtha-ethic of moral renewal through pilgrimage and ritual context.
Dhaumya is describing the exceptional sanctity of Varāha-tīrtha on the Payoṣṇī. He states that for a sacrificer at that holy place, even water merely splashed up or blown by wind has the power to cleanse sins up to life’s end.