Shloka 53

युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya

Devanagari script

उपस्पृश्य च वै विद्यां यत्र तत्रोपपद्यते । महाश्रमे वसेद्‌ रात्रिं सर्वपापप्रमोचने

Transliteration

upaspṛśya ca vai vidyāṃ yatra tatrōpapadyate | mahāśrame vased rātriṃ sarvapāpapramocane ||

Translation

浄めの作法として水に触れ、しかるべく聖なる知を受け取るなら、その人はどこにあってもその学にふさわしい者となる。すべての罪を解くと伝えられる大いなるアーシュラマに一夜を過ごすべきである—学びを清浄と規律の行に結び合わせるために。

Word by Word

उपस्पृश्यhaving touched/after performing ācamana (ritual touching/purification)

चand

वैindeed

विद्याम्knowledge/learning (sacred lore)

यत्रwhere

तत्रthere

उपपद्यतेis attained/comes to pass; is obtained

महाश्रमेin the great hermitage/āśrama

वसेत्should dwell/stay

रात्रिम्night

सर्वपापप्रमोचनेin (the place) that is the remover of all sins

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

म

महाश्रम (great hermitage/āśrama)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Purity of conduct (symbolized by upaspṛśya/ācamana) and disciplined engagement with sacred knowledge are linked; staying in a sanctified hermitage is presented as a means of moral cleansing and renewal.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker gives a prescriptive instruction: after performing purification and taking up learning properly, one should spend the night at a renowned hermitage described as capable of freeing one from sin—typical of Vana Parva’s guidance on holy places and observances.