Shloka 26

Brāhmaṇya-प्रश्नः — The Inquiry into Attaining Brāhmaṇya

Mataṅga–Gardabhī Itihāsa

Devanagari script

महापुर उपस्पृश्य त्रिरात्रोपोषित: शुचि: । त्रसानां स्थावराणां च द्विपदानां भयं त्यजेत्‌,महापुरतीर्थमें स्नान करके पवित्रतापूर्वक तीन रात उपवास करनेसे मनुष्य चराचर प्राणियों तथा मनुष्योंसे प्राप्त होनेवाले भयको त्याग देता है

Transliteration

mahāpure upaspṛśya trirātro'poṣitaḥ śuciḥ | trasānāṃ sthāvarāṇāṃ ca dvipadānāṃ bhayaṃ tyajet ||

Translation

മഹാപുര തീർത്ഥത്തിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത്, ശുചിയായി മൂന്ന് രാത്രികൾ ഉപവസിക്കുന്നവൻ ചരാചരമായ എല്ലാ ജീവികളിലും ദ്വിപാദികളിലും (മനുഷ്യരിലും) നിന്നുണ്ടാകുന്ന ഭയം ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

महापुरेat the great city (i.e., at Mahāpura-tīrtha)

उपस्पृश्यhaving bathed / having performed ablution

त्रिरात्रोपोषितःone who has fasted for three nights

शुचिःpure

त्रसानाम्of moving beings

स्थावराणाम्of immobile beings

चand

द्विपदानाम्of bipeds (humans)

भयम्fear

त्यजेत्should abandon / gives up

Speaker

अजड्रिय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ajadriya

Mahāpura (tīrtha)

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?

Ritual purification at a tīrtha combined with disciplined fasting (three nights) is presented as a dharmic practice that removes fear—symbolically indicating inner steadiness and moral confidence gained through self-restraint and sacred observance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ajadriya describes the fruit (phala) of a specific vow/observance at the Mahāpura sacred ford: bathing there and fasting for three nights leads to freedom from fear caused by various beings, including humans.