Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
कार्तिकीं तु विशेषण योडभिगच्छति पुष्करम्
kārtikīṁ tu viśeṣeṇa yo ’bhigacchati puṣkaram
Ghūlastya nói: “Nhưng ai, với sự trì giữ đặc biệt, hành hương đến Puṣkara vào tháng Kārtika…”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
The verse foregrounds the idea that time (Kārtika) and place (Puṣkara) together intensify religious merit: disciplined pilgrimage and special observance are presented as powerful means of ethical purification and dharmic uplift.
In the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-māhātmya context, the speaker begins describing the distinctive fruit of going to the sacred site Puṣkara specifically during Kārtika, setting up the ensuing praise of that pilgrimage’s spiritual efficacy.