Shloka 17

Cyavana’s Reconciliation with Indra; Tīrtha-Indexing at Ārcīka-parvata and Yamunā

Chapter 125

Devanagari script

चैत्याश्वैते बहुविधास्त्रिदशानां युधिष्ठिर । एतच्चन्द्रमसस्तीर्थमृषय: पर्युपासते । वैखानसा बालखिल्या: पावका वायुभोजना:

Transliteration

Lomāśa uvāca — caityāś caite bahuvidhās tridashānāṁ Yudhiṣṭhira | etac candramasas tīrtham ṛṣayaḥ paryupāsate | vaikhānasā bālakhilyāḥ pāvakā vāyubhojanāḥ, Yudhiṣṭhira |

Translation

لوماش نے کہا—“اے یُدھِشٹھِر! یہاں دیوتاؤں کے نانا قسم کے بہت سے چَیتیہ (مندر) نظر آتے ہیں۔ یہ چندرما کا تیرتھ ہے جس کی رِشی لوگ عقیدت سے پرستش کرتے ہیں۔ یہاں ویکھانَس بَالَکھِلْیَ مہارشی رہتے ہیں—جو ہوا ہی کو آہار مانتے ہیں، نہایت پاکیزہ اور پاک کرنے والے۔ اس لیے اپنی خواہش کے مطابق ان مقدس چوٹیوں اور چشموں کی پرَدَکْشِنا (طواف) کر کے پھر اسنان (غسلِ طہارت) کرو؛ یوں ضابطے کے ساتھ کی گئی یاترا اور عقیدت بھرا اسنان دل و دماغ کو پاک کرتا اور دھرم میں استقامت بخشتا ہے۔”

Word by Word

• चैत्याश्वैते: in (the place called) Chaityāśvaita / at the white sacred shrine
• चैत्याश्वैते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चैत्याश्वेत
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• बहुविधाः: of many kinds
• बहुविधाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहुविध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• त्रिदशानाम्: of the gods (thirty-three)
• त्रिदशानाम्: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिदश
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• युधिष्ठिर: O Yudhiṣṭhira
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• चन्द्रमसः: of the Moon
• चन्द्रमसः: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: चन्द्रमस्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• तीर्थम्: sacred ford/place of pilgrimage
• तीर्थम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• ऋषयः: sages
• ऋषयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋषि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पर्युपासते: worship/attend upon (reverently)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-आस् (आस्)
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Ātmanepada

• वैखानसाः: Vaikhānasa sages
• वैखानसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैखानस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• बालखिल्याः: Bālakhilyas (a class of sages)
• बालखिल्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बालखिल्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पावकाः: pure, purifying
• पावकाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पावक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वायुभोजनाः: air-eating; living on air
• वायुभोजनाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वायुभोजन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• युधिष्ठिर: O Yudhiṣṭhira
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

लोगमश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Lomāśa
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Tridaśas (Devas)
• Candra (Moon)
• Candramasas-tīrtha (Moon’s sacred ford)
• Ṛṣis (sages)
• Vaikhānasa sages
• Bālakhilya sages
• Caityas (shrines)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Reverent approach to tīrthas—seeing shrines, honoring sages, circumambulating sacred sites, and bathing with discipline—functions as a moral and mental purification that supports steadfastness in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Lomāśa guides Yudhiṣṭhira on a pilgrimage, identifying a Moon-associated tīrtha with many divine shrines and resident ascetics (Vaikhānasas/Bālakhilyas), and instructing the proper devotional actions to perform there.