Shloka 26

युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya

Devanagari script

ततो गच्छेत धर्मज्ञ नमस्कृत्य महागिरिम्‌

Transliteration

tato gacchet dharmajña namaskṛtya mahāgirim | dharmajña! vahāṁse mahāparvata himālayako namaskāra karke gaṅgādvāra (haridvāra)-kī yātrā kare, jo svargadvārake samāna hai; isameṁ saṁśaya nahīṁ hai | vahāṁ ekāgracitta ho koṭitīrthameṁ snāna kare |

Translation

پھر، اے دھرم کے جاننے والے، عظیم پہاڑ ہمالیہ کو ادب سے نمسکار کر کے گنگادوار (ہریدوار) کی یاترا کرے؛ وہ گویا خود سُورگ کے دروازے کے مانند ہے—اس میں کوئی شک نہیں۔ وہاں یکسو اور مجتمع دل ہو کر کوٹی تیرتھ میں اشنان کرے۔

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• गच्छेत्: should go
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Vidhi-linga, optative (injunctive sense: should), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• धर्मज्ञ: O knower of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्मज्ञ
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• नमस्कृत्य: having saluted
• Type: Verb
• Root: नमस् + कृ
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), active (parasmai sense), true

• महागिरिम्: the great mountain
• महागिरिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महागिरि
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Himālaya
• Gaṅgādvāra (Haridwar)
• Svargadvāra
• Koṭitīrtha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is practiced through reverence and disciplined action: honoring sacred places (Himālaya, Gaṅgādvāra) and performing purificatory rites with ekāgratā (one-pointed attention). The verse links outer pilgrimage with inner mental focus, implying that merit depends not only on travel but on mindful, respectful conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker gives a step-by-step instruction for a tīrtha-yātrā: first bow to the great mountain Himālaya, then travel to Gaṅgādvāra (Haridwar), praised as heaven’s gateway, and finally bathe at the sacred Koṭitīrtha with concentrated mind.