Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 23

Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)

Devanagari script

सो<स्मिंस्तीर्थवरे राजन्‌ सरस्वत्या: समाहित:

Transliteration

so 'smiṁs tīrthavare rājan sarasvatyāḥ samāhitaḥ

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O King, at that most excellent sacred ford, he became fully composed and intent upon the Sarasvatī.”

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अस्मिन्: in this
• अस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तीर्थवरे: in the excellent sacred ford/place of pilgrimage
• तीर्थवरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थवर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• राजन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• सरस्वत्याः: of Sarasvatī
• सरस्वत्याः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरस्वती
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• समाहितः: composed, concentrated, absorbed
• समाहितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-धा (समाहित)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Sarasvatī
• tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage place)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the dharmic value of inner composure (samāhita) cultivated at a tīrtha: sacred places are not only geographic sites but occasions for mental discipline, reverence, and ethical reorientation.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses the king and describes a figure arriving at an eminent Sarasvatī tīrtha and becoming focused and composed there, indicating a pause for ritual attention, reflection, or vow-like concentration amid the broader events of the parva.