Shloka 25

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

Devanagari script

प्रदक्षिणमुपावृत्य गच्छेत भरतर्षभ । धारां नाम महाप्राज्ञ: सर्वपापप्रमोचनीम्‌,भरतश्रेष्ठ! तदनन्तर महाप्राज्ञ पुरुष उस तीर्थकी परिक्रमा करके धाराकी यात्रा करे, जो सब पापोंसे छुड़ानेवाली है

Transliteration

pradakṣiṇam upāvṛtya gacchet bharatarṣabha | dhārāṃ nāma mahāprajñaḥ sarvapāpapramocanīm ||

Translation

Ghūlastya nói: “Hỡi bậc tráng kiệt trong dòng Bharata, sau khi hoàn tất việc đi nhiễu (pradakṣiṇā) rồi quay lui, người hành hương trí tuệ hãy tiến đến bến thiêng mang tên Dhārā—nổi danh là nơi giải thoát khỏi mọi tội lỗi.”

Word by Word

प्रदक्षिणम्circumambulation (to the right)

उपावृत्यhaving gone around / having circumambulated

गच्छेतshould go

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

धाराम्to Dhārā (name of a tīrtha/place)

नामby name / called

महाप्राज्ञःthe very wise (one)

सर्वपापप्रमोचनीम्that which frees from all sins

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ghūlastya

Bharatarṣabha (honorific addressee)

Dhārā (tīrtha)

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?

The verse teaches disciplined sacred conduct: complete the rite of pradakṣiṇā with reverence, then proceed to a tīrtha famed for moral purification—implying that ethical renewal is pursued through prescribed, mindful religious practice.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker Ghūlastya is guiding the listener through a sequence of pilgrimage actions, directing them to finish a circumambulation and then travel onward to the tīrtha named Dhārā, described as removing all sins.