Shloka 3
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
करतोयां समासाद्य त्रिरात्रोपोषितो नरः । अश्वमेधमवाप्रोति प्रजापतिकृतो विधि:,करतोयामें जाकर स्नान करके तीन रात उपवास करनेवाला मनुष्य अश्वमेधयज्ञका फल पाता है। यह ब्रह्माजीद्वारा की हुई व्यवस्था है
karatoyāṃ samāsādya trirātropoṣito naraḥ | aśvamedham avāpnoti prajāpati-kṛto vidhiḥ ||
Pulastya berkata: “Sesiapa yang sampai ke sungai Karatoyā, mandi di sana, dan berpuasa selama tiga malam, memperoleh pahala korban suci Aśvamedha. Inilah ketetapan yang ditetapkan oleh Prajāpati (Brahmā).”
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sincere pilgrimage combined with disciplined fasting can yield immense spiritual merit—comparable to a grand royal sacrifice—because such practices cultivate purity, restraint, and reverence within a divinely sanctioned moral order (vidhi).
In Pulastya’s discourse on sacred places and their fruits (tīrtha-māhātmya), he describes the Karatoyā as a powerful tīrtha: bathing there and fasting for three nights grants the merit of performing an Aśvamedha, an ordinance attributed to Prajāpati (Brahmā).