Shloka 99

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

Pulastya’s Instruction

Devanagari script

गच्छेत परमां सिद्धिमृणैर्मुक्त: कुरूद्वह । वेदीतीर्थ नर: स्नात्वा गोसहस्रफलं लभेत्‌,किंदत्त नामक कूपके समीप जाकर एक प्रस्थ अर्थात्‌ सोलह मुट्ठी तिल दान करे। कुरुश्रेष्ट! ऐसा करनेसे मनुष्य तीनों ऋणोंसे मुक्त हो परम सिद्धिको प्राप्त होता है। वेदीतीर्थमें स्नान करनेसे मनुष्य सहस्र गोदानका फल पाता है

Transliteration

ghulastya uvāca | gacchet paramāṃ siddhim ṛṇair muktaḥ kurūdvahe | vedītīrthaṃ naraḥ snātvā gosahasraphalaṃ labhet | kiṃdatta-nāmaka-kūpake samīpaṃ gatvā eka-prasthaṃ (ṣoḍaśa-muṣṭi) tilaṃ dadyāt | kurūśreṣṭha, evaṃ kṛtvā manuṣyaḥ tribhir ṛṇaiḥ muktaḥ san paramāṃ siddhiṃ prāpnoti | vedītīrthe snānena ca sahasra-go-dānasya phalaṃ labhate ||

Translation

古拉斯提亚说道：“噢，俱卢族中最卓越者！凡能脱离诸债者，必得至高成就。人在名为韦迪提尔塔（Vedītīrtha）的圣渡口沐浴，其功德等同施舍千头牛。于名为金达塔（Kiṃdatta）的井旁，当以一普拉斯塔（prastha）芝麻——十六把——作布施。噢，俱卢之翘楚！如此行之，便能解脱三重义务而达无上境界；又因在韦迪提尔塔沐浴，得千牛布施之果报。”

Word by Word

• {'gacchet': 'would go/attain', 'paramā siddhiḥ': 'supreme attainment

• highest spiritual success', 'ṛṇa': 'debt/obligation (especially ritual-moral obligations)', 'ṛṇair muktaḥ': 'freed from debts/obligations', 'kurūdvahe / kurūśreṣṭha': 'O bearer of the Kurus / O best of the Kurus (address to a Kuru prince)', 'vedītīrtha': 'Vedītīrtha, a sacred bathing-place (tīrtha)', 'snātvā': 'having bathed', 'gosahasra-phala': 'merit equal to (the gift of) a thousand cows', 'kūpaka': 'small well', 'samīpa': 'near, in the vicinity', 'eka-prastha': 'one prastha (a measure of volume)', 'ṣoḍaśa-muṣṭi': 'sixteen handfuls', 'tila': 'sesame seeds (commonly used in śrāddha/ritual gifting)', 'dāna': 'gift, charitable donation', 'tri-ṛṇa': 'the three debts/obligations (to gods, seers, and ancestors)'}

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghulastya
• Kuru (addressee: Kurūdvahe/Kurūśreṣṭha)
• Vedītīrtha
• Kiṃdatta (well: Kiṃdatta-nāmaka-kūpaka)
• sesame (tila)
• prastha (measure)
• cow-gift (go-dāna)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pilgrimage and charity, when performed with dharmic intent, are presented as means to discharge the ‘three debts’ (to gods, seers, and ancestors). Bathing at Vedītīrtha and donating a measured amount of sesame near the Kiṃdatta well are said to yield great merit and support liberation from obligations.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker named Ghulastya instructs a Kuru prince about specific tīrtha practices: bathing at Vedītīrtha and giving one prastha of sesame near a well called Kiṃdatta. The passage frames these acts as highly meritorious, equating the bath’s fruit to a thousand cow-gifts and promising release from the threefold obligations.