Shloka 24
Avanti–Narmadā–Puṣkara Tīrtha-Kathana (धौम्यकथितं तीर्थवर्णनम्)
धूतपाप्मभिराकीर्णा पुण्यं तस्याश्न दर्शनम् 'युधिष्ठिर! जहाँ पुण्यसलिला भागीरथी गंगा सरोवरमें स्थित थी। महाराज! जहाँपर उन्हें 'ब्रह्मशाला” यह पवित्र नाम दिया गया है। वह पुण्यतीर्थ निष्पाप मनुष्योंसे व्याप्त है; उसका दर्शन पुण्यमय बताया गया है ।। पवित्रो मड्नलीयश्व ख्यातो लोके महात्मन:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: dhūtapāpmabhir ākīrṇā puṇyaṃ tasyāś ca darśanam | yudhiṣṭhira! yatra puṇya-salilā bhāgīrathī gaṅgā sarovare sthitā | mahārāja! yatra tasyāḥ ‘brahmaśālā’ iti pavitraṃ nāma pradattaṃ | tat puṇya-tīrthaṃ niṣpāpa-manuṣyaiḥ vyāptaṃ; tasya darśanaṃ puṇyam iti kathyate || pavitro maṅgalīyaś ca khyāto loke mahātman ||
Wika ni Vaiśampāyana: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, ang banal na pook na iyon ay punô ng mga taong nahugasan na ang kasalanan, at ang pagtanaw lamang dito ay ipinahahayag na may dakilang bisa ng kabutihan. Doon, ang Bhāgīrathī Gaṅgā—banal sa kaniyang mga tubig—ay nananahan sa isang lawa. O hari, doon siya nakikilala sa dalisay na pangalang ‘Brahmaśālā.’ Ang banal na tīrtha na iyon ay dinarayo ng mga taong walang sala, at ang mismong pagmasid dito ay sinasabing nagkakaloob ng birtud; O dakilang-loob, tanyag ito sa daigdig bilang kapwa nagpapadalisay at mapalad.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes tīrtha-darśana: contact with a sacred place—especially one associated with the Gaṅgā—supports moral purification and the cultivation of puṇya. It frames holiness not only as ritual but as an ethical state: the tīrtha is ‘inhabited by the sinless,’ suggesting that virtue, community, and sacred geography reinforce one another.
Vaiśampāyana describes to Yudhiṣṭhira a renowned pilgrimage-site where the Bhāgīrathī Gaṅgā rests in a lake and is honored with the name ‘Brahmaśālā.’ He highlights the site’s fame, auspiciousness, and the belief that merely seeing it grants merit.