Shloka 105
Account of Various Sacred Tīrthas
Pilgrimage Merits and Prayāga Supremacy
नाकृतो नाकृतात्मा च नाशुचिर्न च तस्करः । स्नाति तीर्थेषु कौरव्य न च वक्रमतिर्नरः
nākṛto nākṛtātmā ca nāśucirna ca taskaraḥ | snāti tīrtheṣu kauravya na ca vakramatirnaraḥ
ഹേ കൗരവ്യാ! ദുഷ്കർമ്മി അല്ലാത്തവൻ, അന്തഃകരണം വികൃതമല്ലാത്തവൻ, അശുചിയല്ലാത്തവൻ, കള്ളനല്ലാത്തവൻ—കൂടാതെ കപടബുദ്ധിയില്ലാത്തവൻ—തീർത്ഥങ്ങളിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത് യഥാർത്ഥ ഫലം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു.
Pulastya (to Bhīṣma) [traditional Svarga-khaṇḍa dialogue framing]
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Type: tirtha
Sandhi Resolution Notes: nā-kṛtaḥ = na + ākṛtaḥ; nā-kṛta-ātmā = na + ākṛtātmā; nā-śuciḥ = na + aśuciḥ; na ca (repeated); vakramatirnaraḥ = vakra-matiḥ + naraḥ.
FAQs
It presents tīrtha-bathing as fruitful when paired with ethical integrity—clean conduct, inner purity, and an uncrooked mind—rather than as a merely external ritual.
They represent outward wrongdoing (stealing) and inward deceit (vakra-mati). The verse implies that pilgrimage rites cannot compensate for deliberate unethical behavior or mental dishonesty.
Ritual acts like bathing at sacred places are validated by character: purity, honesty, and sincerity. Spiritual merit is tied to moral transformation, not only sacred travel.