Shloka 143

Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga

Pulastya’s Instruction

Devanagari script

अज्ञानाजज्ञानतो वापि स्त्रिया वा पुरुषेण वा । यत्‌ किंचिदशुभं कर्म कृतं मानुषबुद्धिना,भारत! स्त्री हो या पुरुष, उसने मानव-बुद्धिसे अनजानमें या जान-बूझकर जो कुछ भी पापकर्म किया है, वह सब पृथूदकतीर्थमें स्नान करनेमात्रसे नष्ट हो जाता है और तीर्थसेवी पुरुषको अश्वमेधयज्ञके फल एवं स्वर्गलोककी प्राप्ति होती है

Transliteration

ajñānāj jñānato vāpi striyā vā puruṣeṇa vā | yat kiñcid aśubhaṃ karma kṛtaṃ mānuṣa-buddhinā, bhārata! strī ho yā puruṣa, usne mānuṣa-buddhi se anjān meṃ yā jān-būjhkar jo kuch bhī pāpa-karma kiyā hai, vah sab pṛthūdaka-tīrtha meṃ snān karne-mātra se naṣṭ ho jātā hai aura tīrtha-sevī puruṣ ko aśvamedha-yajña ke phal evaṃ svarga-loka kī prāpti hotī hai

Translation

Ghūlastya disse: “Ó Bhārata, quer seja feito por ignorância ou deliberadamente—por mulher ou por homem—qualquer ato infausto que alguém cometa por fraqueza humana é destruído apenas por banhar-se no tīrtha de Pṛthūdaka. E aquele que serve esse tīrtha obtém o mérito de um sacrifício Aśvamedha e alcança o mundo celeste.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'ajñānāt', 'definition': 'from ignorance

• unknowingly'}, {'term': 'jñānataḥ', 'definition': 'knowingly

• with awareness'}, {'term': 'striyā / puruṣeṇa', 'definition': 'by a woman / by a man (instrumental case)'}, {'term': 'yat kiñcit', 'definition': 'whatever

• anything whatsoever'}, {'term': 'aśubham karma', 'definition': 'inauspicious/evil action

• sinful deed'}, {'term': 'kṛtam', 'definition': 'done

• performed'}, {'term': 'mānuṣa-buddhinā', 'definition': 'through human understanding/limited human judgment

• due to human frailty'}, {'term': 'bhārata', 'definition': 'O descendant of Bharata

• address to a Bharata prince (here, Yudhiṣṭhira in context)'}, {'term': 'tīrtha', 'definition': 'sacred ford/pilgrimage place'}, {'term': 'snāna', 'definition': 'ritual bath'}, {'term': 'naṣṭa', 'definition': 'destroyed

• removed'}, {'term': 'tīrtha-sevī', 'definition': 'one who frequents/serves a pilgrimage place

• devoted pilgrim'}, {'term': 'aśvamedha-yajña-phala', 'definition': 'the merit (fruit) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice'}, {'term': 'svarga-loka', 'definition': 'the heavenly realm'}, {'term': 'pṛthūdaka-tīrtha', 'definition': 'the pilgrimage site named Pṛthūdaka'}]

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghūlastya
• Bhārata
• Pṛthūdaka-tīrtha
• Aśvamedha-yajña
• Svarga-loka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the purificatory power attributed to tīrtha-bathing and tīrtha-service: even morally harmful actions—whether committed knowingly or unknowingly, by anyone—are said to be cleansed at Pṛthūdaka, and devoted pilgrimage yields extraordinary merit comparable to an Aśvamedha and leads to heaven.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-yātrā context, the speaker Ghūlastya praises the sanctity of the Pṛthūdaka pilgrimage site, describing its capacity to remove sin through bathing and to grant high sacrificial merit and heavenly attainment to those who serve the sacred place.