Shloka 44

Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti

Chapter 82

Devanagari script

आगर््त्यं सर आसाद्य पितृदेवार्चने रत: । त्रिरात्रोपोषितो राजन्नग्निष्टोमफलं लभेत्‌,राजन्‌! जो अगस्त्यसरोवर जाकर देवताओं और पितरोंके पूजनमें तत्पर हो तीन रात उपवास करता है, वह अग्निष्टोमयज्ञका फल पाता है

Transliteration

āgastyāṁ sara āsādya pitṛdevārcane rataḥ | trirātropoṣito rājann agniṣṭomaphalaṁ labhet ||

Translation

Tâu Đại vương, ai đến hồ Agastya, chuyên tâm thờ phụng chư thiên và các bậc tổ tiên, rồi nhịn ăn ba đêm, sẽ được công đức ngang với lễ tế Agniṣṭoma.

Word by Word

आगस्त्यंAgastya (lake/holy place named after Agastya)

सरःlake

आसाद्यhaving reached/approached

पितृदेवार्चनेin the worship of the Pitrs and the gods

रतःengaged/devoted

त्रिरात्रोपोषितःone who has fasted for three nights

राजन्O king

अग्निष्टोमफलंthe fruit (merit) of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice

लभेत्would obtain

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Agastya (implied by āgastyam)

Āgastyasaras (Agastya’s lake)

Pitṛs (ancestors)

Devas (gods)

Agniṣṭoma-yajña

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sincere worship of gods and ancestors combined with disciplined fasting at a sacred tīrtha can confer merit comparable to an elaborate Vedic sacrifice, emphasizing inner resolve and ethical restraint alongside ritual action.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker addresses the king and describes the spiritual benefit of visiting Agastya’s lake: if a person performs worship of devas and pitṛs there and fasts for three nights, they gain the fruit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice—typical of the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-māhātmya (praise of pilgrimage sites).