Shloka 3
अध्याय ९० — लोमशोपदेशः तथा तीर्थयात्रानिश्चयः
Lomaśa’s Counsel and the Resolve for Pilgrimage
सरस्वती महापुण्या हृदिनी तीर्थमालिनी । समुद्रगा महावेगा यमुना यत्र पाण्डव,तीर्थोंकी पंक्तिसे सुशोभित सरस्वती नदी बड़ी पुण्यदायिनी है। पाण्डुनन्दन! समुद्रमें मिलनेवाली महावेगशालिनी यमुना भी उत्तर दिशामें ही हैं
Sarasvatī mahāpuṇyā hṛdinī tīrthamālinī | samudragā mahāvegā Yamunā yatra Pāṇḍava ||
Dhaumya said: “The Sarasvatī is supremely holy, a river that gladdens the heart and is adorned with a garland of sacred fords. And there too, O Pāṇḍava, is the Yamunā—swift in her mighty current—flowing onward to meet the ocean.”
धौम्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage) as a dharmic practice: sacred rivers and their tīrthas are portrayed as sources of puṇya (merit) and inner purification, guiding the listener toward disciplined, value-centered living.
Dhaumya is describing holy rivers and pilgrimage regions to the Pāṇḍava, highlighting the Sarasvatī with many tīrthas and the swift Yamunā that flows toward the sea—part of a broader guidance about sacred places during the Pāṇḍavas’ forest period.