Shloka 103
Dhaumya’s Enumeration of Eastern Tīrthas
Prācī-diś Tīrtha-kathana
गोसहस्रफलं विन्द्यात् कुलं चैव समुद्धरेत् नरेश्वरर कोसला (अयोध्या)-में ऋषभतीर्थमें जाकर स्नानपूर्वक तीन रात उपवास करनेवाला मानव वाजपेययज्ञका फल पाता है। इतना ही नहीं, वह सहस्र गोदानका फल पाता और अपने कुलका भी उद्धार कर देता है,शूद्रो यथेप्सितान् कामान् ब्राह्मण: पारग: पठन् | यश्नेदं शृणुयान्नित्यं तीर्थपुण्यं नरः शुचि:
gosahasraphalaṁ vindyāt kulaṁ caiva samuddharet | nareśvaraḥ kosalāyāṁ (ayodhyāyām) ṛṣabhatīrthaṁ gatvā snānapūrvakaṁ trirātram upavāsī mānavaḥ vājapeyayajñaphalaṁ prāpnoti | na kevalam—sa sahasragodānaphalaṁ prāpnoti sva-kulasya coddhāraṁ karoti | śūdro yathepsitān kāmān brāhmaṇaḥ pāraghaḥ paṭhan | yaḥ cedaṁ śṛṇuyān nityaṁ tīrthapuṇyaṁ naraḥ śuciḥ ||
Ipinahayag ni Pulastya ang gantimpala ng isang tiyak na panatang paglalakbay-dambana: ang sinumang pumunta sa R̥ṣabha-tīrtha sa Kosala (Ayodhyā), maligo roon, at mag-ayuno sa loob ng tatlong gabi, ay nagtatamo ng bunga ng handog na Vājapeya. Higit pa rito, nakakamit niya ang kabutihang-loob na katumbas ng pag-aalay ng isang libong baka at naiaangat pa ang kanyang angkan. Binibigyang-diin din ng talata ang kapangyarihan ng pakikinig at pagbigkas: ang taong may dalisay na diwa na palagiang nakikinig o nag-aaral ng banal na salaysay na ito tungkol sa tīrtha ay sinasabing nakakamit ang ninanais—anumang antas sa lipunan.
पुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Disciplined pilgrimage practice—bathing, fasting, and purity—combined with reverent hearing/recitation of sacred tīrtha accounts is portrayed as a powerful generator of puṇya, comparable to great Vedic sacrifices and major gifts, and capable of benefiting not only the individual but also the family line.
Pulastya is describing the specific rewards of visiting R̥ṣabha-tīrtha in Kosala (Ayodhyā), performing a ritual bath, and observing a three-night fast; he then broadens the point by praising the ongoing merit gained by those who regularly listen to or study this tīrtha narrative.