Shloka 7
वैदूर्यशिखर नामक मंगलमय पवित्र पर्वत भी नर्मदा-तटपर है, वहाँ हरे-हरे पत्तोंसे सुशोभित सदा फल और फूलोंके भारसे लदे हुए वृक्ष शोभा पाते हैं ।। तस्य शैलस्य शिखरे सर: पुण्यं महीपते । फुल्लपद्म॑ महाराज देवगन्धर्वसेवितम्,राजन्! उस पर्वतके शिखरपर एक पुण्य सरोवर है जिसमें सदा कमल खिले रहते हैं। महाराज! देवता और गन्धर्व भी उस पुण्यतीर्थका सेवन करते हैं
vaidūryaśikhara-nāmakaḥ maṅgalamayaḥ pavitraḥ parvato ’pi narmadā-taṭe ’sti; tatra harita-patraiḥ suśobhitaḥ sadā phala-puṣpa-bhāra-namraḥ vṛkṣa-saṅgho virājate. tasya śailasya śikhare saraḥ puṇyaṃ mahīpate, phulla-padmaṃ mahārāja deva-gandharva-sevitam.
Dhaumya said: “On the bank of the Narmadā stands a sacred and auspicious mountain called Vaidūryaśikhara. There, trees gleam with fresh green leaves and are ever bowed down by the weight of fruits and blossoms. Upon that mountain’s summit, O king, lies a holy lake, always adorned with fully blossomed lotuses. O great ruler, even the gods and Gandharvas resort to that sanctified tīrtha.”
धौम्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the Mahābhārata’s tīrtha-ethic: sacred places in nature—marked by purity, abundance, and divine visitation—are approached with reverence because they are believed to generate puṇya (spiritual merit) and cultivate inner purification.
Dhaumya is describing to the king a holy landscape on the Narmadā: the auspicious mountain Vaidūryaśikhara and, on its summit, a sacred lotus-filled lake that is frequented even by gods and Gandharvas—thereby establishing the site’s sanctity and importance as a pilgrimage destination.