Shloka 173
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
तीर्थेषु सर्वदेवानां स्नात: स पुरुषर्षभ । सर्वदुःखै: परित्यक्तो द्योतते शशिवन्नर:,शत्रुदमन महाराज! पद्मनाभ भगवान् नारायणके निकट जाकर (उनका दर्शन करके) मनुष्य तेजस्वी रूप धारण करके भगवान् विष्णुके लोकमें जाता है। पुरुषरत्न! सब देवताओंके तीर्थोंमें स्नान करके मनुष्य सब दु:खोंसे मुक्त हो चन्द्रमाके समान प्रकाशित होता है
tīrtheṣu sarvadevānāṁ snātaḥ sa puruṣarṣabha | sarvaduḥkhaiḥ parityakto dyotate śaśivannaraḥ |
Ghūlastya disse: “Ó touro entre os homens, aquele que se banhou nos vaus sagrados de todos os deuses fica livre de toda tristeza; liberto de todas as aflições, brilha entre as pessoas como a lua. O ensinamento é que a peregrinação e a purificação ritual, quando empreendidas com reverência, são retratadas como meio de limpeza interior e de alívio do pesar, culminando numa vida luminosa e eticamente renovada.”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents tīrtha-snān (bathing at sacred places) as a dharmic act that symbolically and spiritually removes sorrow and impurity, leading to a state of radiance and well-being—an ethical renewal expressed through the image of moonlike brightness.
A speaker named Ghūlastya addresses a revered listener (“best of men”) and praises the fruit of pilgrimage: one who bathes at the tīrthas associated with the gods becomes free from suffering and shines like the moon, reinforcing the Mahābhārata’s tīrtha-yātrā motif in the Vana Parva.