Shloka 45

Devanagari script

प्रभासं मानसं तीर्थ पुष्कराणि महत्सर: । पुण्यं च नैमिषं तीर्थ बाहुदां करतोयिनीम्‌

Transliteration

dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | prabhāsaṁ mānasaṁ tīrthaṁ puṣkarāṇi mahatsaraḥ | puṇyaṁ ca naimiṣaṁ tīrthaṁ bāhudāṁ karatoyinīm ||

Translation

ธฤตราษฏระตรัสว่า—“จงบอกเราเถิดถึง ประภาสะ ตีรถะแห่งมานัส (มานัสโรวร), ปุษกรพร้อมสระใหญ่, ตีรถะอันศักดิ์สิทธิ์แห่งไนมิษะ; และแม่น้ำพาหุทา กับกรโตยินีด้วย”

Word by Word

प्रभासम्Prabhāsa (a sacred place)

मानसम्Mānasa (lake/holy place)

तीर्थम्a pilgrimage-ford; sacred place

पुष्कराणिPuṣkaras (holy lakes/places)

महत्great

सरःlake

पुण्यम्holy, meritorious

चand

नैमिषम्Naimiṣa (forest/holy place)

तीर्थम्a sacred ford/place

बाहुदाम्Bāhudā (name of a river)

करतोयिनीम्Karatoyā river (lit. 'having karatoyā-water')

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Prabhāsa

Mānasa (Mānasarovara)

Puṣkara

Naimiṣa (Naimiṣāraṇya)

Bāhudā (river)

Karatoyinī (river)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds tīrthas—sacred places and waters—implying that contact with holy geography, undertaken with right intention, is a recognized means of cultivating puṇya (merit) and moral purification within the dharma framework.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra is listing and asking about eminent pilgrimage sites and rivers—Prabhāsa, Mānasarovara, Puṣkara, Naimiṣa, Bāhudā, and Karatoyinī—within a broader discussion that catalogs tīrthas and their religious significance.