Shloka 95

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

Devanagari script

योनिद्धारं च तत्रैव विश्रुतं भरतर्षभ । तत्राभिगम्य मुच्येत पुरुषो योनिसंकटात्‌,भरतश्रेष्ठ! वहीं विख्यात योनिद्वारतीर्थ है, जहाँ जाकर मनुष्य योनिसंकटसे मुक्त हो जाता है--उसका पुनर्जन्म नहीं होता

Transliteration

yoniddhāraṃ ca tatraiva viśrutaṃ bharatarṣabha | tatrābhigamya mucyeta puruṣo yonisaṅkaṭāt ||

Translation

ஓ பரதர்களில் சிறந்தவனே! அங்கேயே ‘யோனித்வார’ எனப் புகழ்பெற்ற தீர்த்தம் உள்ளது. அங்கு சென்றால் மனிதன் யோனிசங்கடத்திலிருந்து விடுபடுவான்—மறுபிறப்பின் பந்தம் அறுந்துவிடும்.

Word by Word

योनिद्धारम्the ‘yoni-gate’ (sacred ford/place named Yoni-dvāra)

चand

तत्रthere

एवindeed/just

विश्रुतम्well-known, renowned

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

तत्रthere

अभिगम्यhaving gone/approached

मुच्येतwould be freed / may be released

पुरुषःa man/person

योनि-संकटात्from the distress/difficulty of (re)births

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharatarṣabha (honorific addressee, likely Yudhiṣṭhira)

Yonidvāra-tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage site)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s tīrtha-ethic: certain sacred places are believed to confer profound spiritual benefit. Here, visiting the famed Yonidvāra-tīrtha is presented as a means to transcend the suffering of repeated birth, pointing toward liberation (mokṣa) as the highest aim beyond ordinary merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya is describing a renowned pilgrimage site to the Bharata prince (addressed as ‘Bharatarṣabha’), explaining that this particular tīrtha—called Yonidvāra—is famous for granting release from the ‘womb-crisis’ of repeated rebirth to one who goes there.