Mahabharata — Vana Parva, Shloka 79
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
अविमुक्त समासाद्य तीर्थसेवी कुरूद्वह । दर्शनाद् देवदेवस्य मुच्यते ब्रह्म॒ुह॒त्यया
Avimuktaṁ samāsādya tīrthasevī kurūdvaha | darśanād devadevasya mucyate brahmahatyayā ||
ਹੇ ਕੁਰੂਆਂ ਦੇ ਸ਼੍ਰੇਸ਼ਠ! ਅਵਿਮੁਕਤ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਕੇ ਤੀਰਥ ਦੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲਾ ਯਾਤਰੀ ਦੇਵਾਂ ਦੇ ਦੇਵ ਦੇ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ ਮਾਤਰ ਨਾਲ ਹੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮਹਤਿਆ ਦੇ ਪਾਪ ਤੋਂ ਮੁਕਤ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sincere pilgrimage (tīrtha-sevā) culminating in darśana of the supreme deity (Devadeva, here understood as Śiva) has extraordinary purificatory power—so great that it is said to free one even from brahmahatyā, a paradigmatic ‘heavy’ sin. Ethically, it highlights repentance, reverence, and transformative encounter with the sacred as means of moral restoration.
In the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-māhātmya setting, the speaker (Ghūlastya) addresses a Kuru noble with an honorific (kurūdvaha) and praises the sanctity of Avimukta. He states that a pilgrim who reaches this holy place and performs tīrtha observances gains liberation from grave sin through the mere sight of Devadeva.