Shloka 41

युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya

Devanagari script

अरुन्धतीवटं गच्छेत्‌ तीर्थसेवी नराधिप । सामुद्रकमुपस्पृश्य ब्रह्मचारी समाहित:

Transliteration

arundhatīvaṭaṃ gacchet tīrthasevī narādhipa | sāmudrakam upaspṛśya brahmacārī samāhitaḥ |

Translation

घूलस्थ्य उवाच—नराधिप, तीर्थसेवी अरुन्धतीवटं गच्छेत्। सामुद्रके तीर्थे समुपस्पृश्य ब्रह्मचारी समाहितः सन् त्रिरात्रमुपवासं कुर्यात्। एतया तपस्यया अश्वमेधयज्ञफलम् गोसहस्रदानफलञ्च प्राप्नोति, स्वकुलं च समुद्धरति।

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'arundhatīvaṭa', 'definition': '‘Arundhatī’s banyan tree’

• a named sacred tree/shrine associated with the ideal of chastity and marital fidelity'}, {'term': 'gacchet', 'definition': 'should go

• ought to proceed'}, {'term': 'tīrthasevī', 'definition': 'one who frequents/serves sacred fords

• a pilgrim devoted to tīrthas'}, {'term': 'narādhipa / narapate', 'definition': 'O ruler of men

• O king'}, {'term': 'sāmudraka', 'definition': 'the Sāmudraka tīrtha

• a sacred bathing place (tīrtha-name)'}, {'term': 'upaspṛśya', 'definition': 'having touched the water

• having performed ritual bathing/ablution'}, {'term': 'brahmacārī', 'definition': 'one observing brahmacarya

• celibate, disciplined in conduct'}, {'term': 'samāhitaḥ', 'definition': 'composed, concentrated, mentally collected'}, {'term': 'upavāsa', 'definition': 'fasting

• here, a three-night fast (as indicated by the prose gloss)'}, {'term': 'aśvamedha', 'definition': 'the horse-sacrifice

• emblematic of supreme royal merit'}, {'term': 'sahasra-godāna', 'definition': 'gift of a thousand cows

• a major act of charity'}, {'term': 'kuloddhāra', 'definition': 'uplift/salvation of one’s lineage

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghulasthya
• Narādhipa (the king addressed)
• Arundhatīvaṭa
• Sāmudraka-tīrtha
• Aśvamedha (sacrifice)
• Go-dāna (gift of cows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pilgrimage is not merely travel but disciplined practice: ritual bathing, brahmacarya, mental concentration, and fasting. Such self-restraint and purity are presented as generating merit comparable to grand sacrifices and major charities, with benefits extending to one’s lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker named Ghulasthya instructs a king about a specific tīrtha-sequence: go to Arundhatīvaṭa, bathe at the Sāmudraka tīrtha, observe celibacy and focused mind, and fast for three nights, promising exalted sacrificial and charitable fruits and the uplift of the family line.