Shloka 21
अध्याय ९० — लोमशोपदेशः तथा तीर्थयात्रानिश्चयः
Lomaśa’s Counsel and the Resolve for Pilgrimage
बिभेद तरसा गज गज्जद्वारं युधिष्ठिर । पुण्यं तत् ख्यायते राजन ब्रह्मर्षिगणसेवितम्,युधिष्ठिर! गिरिश्रेष्ठ हिमालय किरातों और किन्नरोंका निवासस्थान है। गन्धर्व, यक्ष, राक्षस और अप्सराएँ उसका सदा सेवन करती हैं। गंगाजी अपने वेगसे उस शैलराजको फोड़कर जहाँ प्रकट हुई हैं, वह पुण्यस्थान गंगाद्वार (हरिद्वार)-के नामसे विख्यात है। राजन! उस तीर्थका ब्रह्मर्षिणण सदा सेवन करते हैं
bibhēda tarasā gaja-gajjad-dvāraṁ yudhiṣṭhira | puṇyaṁ tat khyāyate rājan brahmarṣi-gaṇa-sevitam ||
Dhaumya said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, with its tremendous force the Gaṅgā broke open the ‘Elephant-roaring Gate’ of the mountain. That spot, O king, is renowned as a supremely holy place, frequented by hosts of Brahmarṣis. It is the famed Gaṅgādvāra (Haridvāra), where the river emerges after cleaving the lordly Himālaya—an abode of Kirātas and Kinnaras, and a region ever visited by Gandharvas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, and Apsarases.”
धौम्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred places gain ethical and spiritual weight through their association with divine acts (Gaṅgā’s emergence) and the sustained practice of the righteous (Brahmarṣis). The verse frames pilgrimage as a dharmic act: approaching such tīrthas cultivates puṇya and aligns one with the conduct of seers.
Dhaumya is describing a famed Himalayan tīrtha to Yudhiṣṭhira: the point where the Gaṅgā bursts forth after cleaving a mountain ‘gate,’ known as Gaṅgādvāra (Haridvāra). He highlights its mythic inhabitants and its continual visitation by sages and celestial beings, underscoring its sanctity.