Shloka 89

Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga

Pulastya’s Instruction

Devanagari script

गोसहस्रस्य राजेन्द्र फलं विन्दति मानव: । पाणिखाते नर: स्नात्वा तर्पयित्वा च देवता:

Transliteration

gosahasrasya rājendra phalaṁ vindati mānavaḥ | pāṇikhāte naraḥ snātvā tarpayitvā ca devatāḥ ||

Translation

Tâu Đại vương, người nào tắm trong hố nước do chính tay đào rồi dâng lễ rưới nước (tarpana) kính các thần linh, sẽ được công đức ngang với việc bố thí một nghìn con bò.

Word by Word

गोof a cow

सहस्रस्यof a thousand

राजेन्द्रO king of kings

फलंfruit/result

विन्दतिobtains/finds

मानवःa man

पाणिखातेin a hand-dug (pit/well)

नरःa man

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

तर्पयित्वाhaving satisfied (offered libations to)

चand

देवताःthe deities

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

rājendra (the king addressed)

devatāḥ (deities)

gosahasra (a thousand cows, as a meritorious gift)

pāṇikhāta (hand-dug water-pit)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that great religious merit is not limited to costly gifts; even a simple act—bathing in a hand-dug water source and performing tarpana to the deities with reverence—can yield merit comparable to donating a thousand cows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya addresses the king and explains the spiritual reward (phala) of a specific practice: bathing in a hand-dug pit and then offering libations to the deities, equating its merit with the famed charity of gifting a thousand cows.