Verse 2.1.55

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.55:

तस्मिल् लसन्-माधव-पाद-पद्मे गङ्गाश्रित-श्री-यमुना-मनोज्ञे ।
स्नानाय माघोषसि तीर्थ-राजे प्राप्तान् स साधून् सतशो ददर्श ॥ ५५ ॥

tasmil lasan-mādhava-pāda-padme gaṅgāśrita-śrī-yamunā-manojñe |
snānāya māghoṣasi tīrtha-rāje prāptān sa sādhūn sataśo dadarśa || 55 ||

tasmin–there; lasat–decorated; mādhava–of Śrī Mādhava; pādapadme–at the lotus feet; gaṅgā–of the Gaṅgā; āśrita–shelter; śrī–beautiful; yamunā–Yamunā; manaḥ-jñe–charming; snānāya–to bathe; māgha–in the month of Māgha; uṣasi–at dawn; tīrtharāje–at the king of all the pilgrimage places; prāptān–reaching; saḥ–he; sādhūn–saintly persons; śataśaḥ–by the hundreds; dadarśa–he witnessed.

Prayāga, the king of all pilgrimage places, is decorated with the lotus feet of Śrī Mādhava. It is very attractive because there, the river Yamunā takes shelter of the river Gaṅgā. Thousands of sādhus had congregated there for the early morning ritual of bathing during the month of Māgha. Reaching Prayāga-rāja, the brāhmaṇa witnessed this huge gathering of saintly persons.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Śrī Parīkṣit says, “Because bhakti, devotion to the Supreme Lord, manifests in Prayāga, it is considered superior to all other places of pilgrimage (tīrthas) and is known as tīrtha-rāja, the king of all tīrthas. Therefore, upon his arrival, the brāhmaṇa saw thousands of Vaiṣṇava sādhus (saintly persons) gathered there for the ritual of bathing at dawn during the month of Māgha (January–February).” The two lines beginning with lasat show Prayāga-tīrtha’s superiority as the king of all holy places. Prayāga is adorned by the lotus feet of Śrī Mādhava-deva, and it is charming because of the presence of the river Yamunā, who takes shelter of the Gaṅgā here. Alternatively, it may be said that because both rivers, Yamunā and Gaṅgā, have deep devotion for Bhagavān’s lotus feet, they have sought each other’s association. The site of their confluence is the king of pilgrimage places, Prayāga.