Shloka 21
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
तीर्थयात्रां ययौ राजन् कुरूणां वैशसे तदा । सरस्वती प्रतिस्रोत: समन्तादभिजग्मिवान्
tīrthayātrāṃ yayau rājan kurūṇāṃ vaiśase tadā | sarasvatī pratisrotaḥ samantād abhijagmivān ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: O König, damals, nach dem Gemetzel an den Kurus, brach er zu einer Pilgerfahrt zu den heiligen Furten (tīrthas) auf und näherte sich der Sarasvatī, gegen ihre Strömung voranschreitend, von allen Seiten zu ihr kommend.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
After catastrophic violence, the epic often turns to tīrtha-yātrā as a dharmic response—seeking purification, reflection, and restoration of moral order. The movement ‘against the current’ also suggests deliberate effort: ethical recovery requires intentional, strenuous turning away from the momentum of destruction.
The narrator states that, in the wake of the Kurus’ massacre, the subject (contextually a principal figure undertaking expiation) departs on a pilgrimage and reaches the sacred river Sarasvatī, traveling upstream and approaching its tīrthas from various directions.