Shloka 51
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
गत्वा वीरप्रमोक्ष॑ं च सर्वपापै: प्रमुच्यते । कृत्तिकामघयोश्रैव तीर्थमासाद्य भारत
ghulastya uvāca | gatvā vīrapramokṣaṃ ca sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate | kṛttikāmaghayoś caiva tīrtham āsādya bhārata, ekakālaṃ nirāhāro lokān āvasate śubhān |
वीरप्रमोक्षं तु गत्वा वै सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते । कृत्तिकामघयोश्चैव तीर्थमासाद्य भारत । एककालं निराहारो रात्रिं तत्र निवसन् नरः शुभान् लोकानवाप्नोति ॥
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that disciplined pilgrimage—approaching sacred places with restraint (such as fasting and staying with reverence)—is presented as a dharmic means of purification from sin and of gaining auspicious spiritual results.
In the Vana Parva’s pilgrimage discourse (tīrtha-māhātmya), the speaker Ghulastya instructs Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira) about specific tīrthas—Vīrapramokṣa and the tīrtha linked with the nakṣatras Kṛttikā and Maghā—describing the merits obtained by visiting them and observing a brief fast and stay.