Shloka 103
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
गोसहस्रफलं विन्द्यात् कुलं चैव समुद्धरेत् नरेश्वरर कोसला (अयोध्या)-में ऋषभतीर्थमें जाकर स्नानपूर्वक तीन रात उपवास करनेवाला मानव वाजपेययज्ञका फल पाता है। इतना ही नहीं, वह सहस्र गोदानका फल पाता और अपने कुलका भी उद्धार कर देता है,शूद्रो यथेप्सितान् कामान् ब्राह्मण: पारग: पठन् | यश्नेदं शृणुयान्नित्यं तीर्थपुण्यं नरः शुचि:
gosahasraphalaṁ vindyāt kulaṁ caiva samuddharet | nareśvaraḥ kosalāyāṁ (ayodhyāyām) ṛṣabhatīrthaṁ gatvā snānapūrvakaṁ trirātram upavāsī mānavaḥ vājapeyayajñaphalaṁ prāpnoti | na kevalam—sa sahasragodānaphalaṁ prāpnoti sva-kulasya coddhāraṁ karoti | śūdro yathepsitān kāmān brāhmaṇaḥ pāraghaḥ paṭhan | yaḥ cedaṁ śṛṇuyān nityaṁ tīrthapuṇyaṁ naraḥ śuciḥ ||
Pulastya declara o mérito de uma observância específica de peregrinação: quem vai ao sagrado R̥ṣabha-tīrtha em Kosala (Ayodhyā), ali se banha e mantém jejum por três noites, alcança o fruto do sacrifício Vājapeya. Além disso, obtém mérito equivalente ao dom de mil vacas e ainda eleva e redime a própria linhagem. O trecho também enfatiza o poder de ouvir e recitar este relato dos tīrthas: diz-se que a pessoa de mente pura que o escuta ou o estuda regularmente alcança os fins desejados—independentemente de sua condição social.
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Disciplined pilgrimage practice—bathing, fasting, and purity—combined with reverent hearing/recitation of sacred tīrtha accounts is portrayed as a powerful generator of puṇya, comparable to great Vedic sacrifices and major gifts, and capable of benefiting not only the individual but also the family line.
Pulastya is describing the specific rewards of visiting R̥ṣabha-tīrtha in Kosala (Ayodhyā), performing a ritual bath, and observing a three-night fast; he then broadens the point by praising the ongoing merit gained by those who regularly listen to or study this tīrtha narrative.