Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
इमास्तु नद्यो देवेश सर्वतीर्थोदकैर्युता: । उपस्पर्शनहेतोस्त्वामुपयान्ति समीपत:
imāstu nadyo deveśa sarvatīrthodakairyutāḥ | upasparśanahetostvām upayānti samīpataḥ ||
مہادیو نے کہا—اے دیویش! یہ ندیاں تمام تیرتھوں کے پانی سے بھرپور ہو کر پاکیزہ لمس (اُپَسپرشن) کے لیے تمہارے قریب آتی ہیں۔
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
The verse elevates the idea of tīrtha by linking it to divine proximity: sacredness is intensified through contact with the divine, and ritual purification is portrayed as participation in a living relationship between nature (rivers) and the deity.
Śrī Mahēśvara addresses the ‘Lord of the gods’ and describes how rivers, bearing the sanctity of all pilgrimage waters, approach closely in order to obtain purifying contact—depicting a cosmic scene of sacred waters converging toward the deity.