Shloka 22

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

Devanagari script

अश्वमेधमवाप्रोति गाणपत्यं च विन्दति । धूमावतीं ततो गच्छेत्‌ त्रिरात्रोपोषितो नर:

Transliteration

aśvamedham avāpnoti gāṇapatyaṃ ca vindati | dhūmāvatīṃ tato gacchet trirātro-poṣito naraḥ ||

Translation

அவன் அச்வமேத யாகத்தின் பலனை அடைகிறான்; கானபத்ய விரதத்தின் பலனையும் பெறுகிறான். அதன் பின் மூன்று இரவுகள் உபவாசம் இருந்து துமாவதீ தீர்த்தத்திற்குச் செல்ல வேண்டும்.

Word by Word

अश्वमेधम्the Aśvamedha (horse-sacrifice)

अवाप्नोतिobtains, attains

गाणपत्यम्the Gaṇapatya rite/fruit (pertaining to Gaṇapati)

चand

विन्दतिfinds, obtains

धूमावतीम्Dhūmāvatī (a sacred place/river/name)

ततःthen, from there

गच्छेत्should go

त्रिरात्रोपोषितःhaving fasted for three nights

नरःa man

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aśvamedha

Gaṇapatya

Dhūmāvatī

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse elevates disciplined observance—especially fasting and prescribed pilgrimage—as a dharmic path capable of yielding the highest sacrificial fruits, suggesting that inner restraint and correct practice can substitute for costly or violent rites.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker is listing tīrtha-related observances and their results: by undertaking a three-night fast and then going to the sacred site called Dhūmāvatī, one is said to gain the merit of major rites such as the Aśvamedha and the Gaṇapatya observance.