Shloka 17
Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
ऋषीणां परम॑ गुहय॒मिदं भरतसत्तम । तीर्थाभिगमन पुण्यं यज्जैरपि विशिष्यते,भरतश्रेष्ठ! यह ऋषियोंका परम गोपनीय रहस्य है। तीर्थयात्रा बड़ा पवित्र सत्कर्म है। वह यज्ञोंसे भी बढ़कर है
ṛṣīṇāṁ paramaṁ guhyam idaṁ bharatasattama | tīrthābhigamana-puṇyaṁ yajñair api viśiṣyate ||
Ó melhor dos Bhāratas, este é o ensinamento mais secreto dos sábios: o mérito obtido ao peregrinar aos tīrthas, os vados sagrados, é um ato de purificação suprema—dito superior até mesmo aos ritos sacrificiais.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that pilgrimage to tīrthas, undertaken with sincerity, is an exceptionally purifying source of merit—so valued that it is described as surpassing even sacrificial rituals. It highlights a dharmic emphasis on transformative practice and reverent seeking, not only formal rite.
A speaker addresses a Bharata hero with an authoritative, ‘sages’ secret’ instruction, praising tīrtha-abhigamana (visiting sacred places) as a superior religious act compared to yajñas, thereby encouraging pilgrimage as a key dharmic practice within the Vana Parva context.