Shloka 142

Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga

Pulastya’s Instruction

Devanagari script

पृथूदकमिति ख्यातं कार्तिकेयस्य वै नृप । तत्राभिषेकं कुर्वीत पितृदेवार्चने रत:,राजेन्द्र! तदनन्तर कार्तिकेयके त्रिभुवनविख्यात पृथूदकतीर्थकी यात्रा करे और वहाँ स्नान करके देवताओं तथा पितरोंकी पूजामें संलग्न रहे

Transliteration

pṛthūdakam iti khyātaṃ kārtikeyasya vai nṛpa | tatrābhiṣekaṃ kurvīta pitṛdevārcane rataḥ ||

Translation

グーラースティヤは言った。「王よ、カールッティケーヤに属する“プṛトゥーダカ”（Pṛthūdaka）と名高い聖地がある。そこでは灌沐（アビシェーカ）という儀礼の沐浴を行い、神々と祖霊の礼拝に専心すべきである。ゆえに、この世に名高いカールッティケーヤのティールタを訪れたのち、そこで沐浴し、恭しく供物を捧げよ——自己の浄化を、神々と祖先という秩序の源への感謝と結び合わせて。」

Word by Word

पृथूदकम्Pr̥thūdaka (a sacred place/ford; lit. ‘abundant water’)

इतिthus; as

ख्यातम्known; famed

कार्तिकेयस्यof Kārttikeya

वैindeed; certainly

नृपO king

तत्रthere

अभिषेकम्ablution; ceremonial bathing

कुर्वीतshould do; should perform

पितृदेव-अर्चनेin the worship of the Fathers and the gods

रतःengaged; devoted

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ghūlastya (speaker)

nṛpa (the king addressed)

Pṛthūdaka (tīrtha)

Kārttikeya (Skanda)

pitṛs (ancestors)

devas (gods)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that pilgrimage is not merely travel but disciplined dharma: one should purify oneself through sacred bathing and sustain reverence through worship of both devas and pitṛs, acknowledging cosmic order and ancestral obligations.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya instructs the king about the famed tīrtha called Pṛthūdaka associated with Kārttikeya, advising him to go there, perform ritual bathing/abhiṣeka, and engage in worship of gods and ancestors as part of the prescribed pilgrimage sequence.