Shloka 104

Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas

Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana

Devanagari script

जाती: स स्मरते बद्दीर्नाकपृष्ठे च मोदते । गम्यान्यपि च तीर्थानि कीर्तितान्यगमानि च

Transliteration

jātīḥ sa smarate baddhīr nākapṛṣṭhe ca modate | gamyāny api ca tīrthāni kīrtitāny agamāni ca

Translation

ಪುಲಸ್ತ್ಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಅವನು ಬಂಧನದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಅನೇಕ ಜನ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ಸ್ಮರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ; ಸ್ವರ್ಗಶಿಖರವನ್ನು ತಲುಪಿ ಹರ್ಷಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ತಾನು ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ಭೇಟಿ ಮಾಡಿದ ತೀರ್ಥಗಳನ್ನೂ ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾನೆ; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ತಾನು ಹೋಗದಿದ್ದರೂ ಕೇವಲ ವರ್ಣನೆಯಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿದ ಅಗ್ಗಮ್ಯ ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಗಳನ್ನೂ ಸ್ಮರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.”

Word by Word

जातिःbirth, lineage

सःhe

स्मरतेremembers

बद्धीन्kinsmen/relations (as bound ones)

नाकपृष्ठेon the surface of heaven

चand

मोदतेrejoices

गम्यानिto be gone to, accessible

अपिalso, even

चand

तीर्थानिpilgrimage places, holy fords

कीर्तितानिmentioned, proclaimed

अगमानिnot to be gone to, inaccessible

चand

Speaker

पुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pulastya

nāka (heaven)

tīrthas (holy places)

Character Dynamics

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?

The verse underscores karmic continuity: even in heavenly enjoyment one retains awareness of past bondage and of one’s religious acts—both performed pilgrimages and merely heard-of holy places—highlighting that merit and memory follow the soul beyond a single life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Pulastya is describing the post-mortem experience of a person who attains heaven: he delights there, yet remembers prior constrained existences and recollects the tīrthas he visited as well as those he only heard praised but did not reach.