Shloka 35
Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
तथैव पुष्कर राजंस्तीर्थानामादिरुच्यते । राजन! जैसे भगवान् मधुसूदन (विष्णु) सब देवताओंके आदि हैं, वैसे ही पुष्कर सब तीर्थोंका आदि कहा जाता है || ३४ $ || उष्ट्वा द्वादश वर्षाणि पुष्करे नियत: शुचि:
tathaiva puṣkara-rājaṁs tīrthānām ādir ucyate | rājan! yathā bhagavān madhusūdana (viṣṇuḥ) sarva-devatānām ādiḥ, tathaiva puṣkaraḥ sarva-tīrthānām ādir ucyate || uṣitvā dvādaśa varṣāṇi puṣkare niyataḥ śuciḥ |
Wika ni Ghūlastya: “Gayon din, O hari, ang Puṣkara ay ipinahahayag na una sa lahat ng mga tīrtha, ang mga banal na tawiran. Kung paanong ang Mapalad na Madhusūdana (Viṣṇu) ang pinagmulan at pinakadakila sa lahat ng mga diyos, gayon din ang Puṣkara ang itinuturing na pinakadakila sa lahat ng pook-paglalakbay. At matapos manahan sa Puṣkara sa loob ng labindalawang taon—na may pagpipigil at kalinisan—… (nagpapatuloy ang salaysay).”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates Puṣkara as the foremost tīrtha, using an ethical-religious analogy: as Viṣṇu (Madhusūdana) is regarded as the primal and chief among deities, so Puṣkara is held to be the primal and chief among pilgrimage sites—implying that disciplined, pure conduct and sacred association support spiritual merit.
The speaker (Ghūlastya) is instructing a king about the greatness of Puṣkara as a pilgrimage place and begins to segue into an account involving a twelve-year stay there in purity and restraint, setting up the next part of the story.