Shloka 88
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
तत्र दत्त्वा च दानानि विशिष्टानि हलायुध: । उषित्वा रजनीमेकां स्नात्वा च विधिवत्तदा
tatra dattvā ca dānāni viśiṣṭāni halāyudhaḥ | uṣitvā rajanīm ekāṁ snātvā ca vidhivattadā |
Dort spendete Halāyudha (Balarāma) erlesene Gaben. Nachdem er eine einzige Nacht verweilt und sich sodann nach rechtem Ritus gebadet hatte, brach er von dort in eifriger Hast nach Udapāna-tīrtha auf, einer uralten, glückverheißenden heiligen Furt. O König Janamejaya, Udapāna ist jene Tīrtha, an der schon das bloße Eintreffen großen geistlichen Lohn verleiht; und vollendete Weise erkennen dort selbst die verborgene Sarasvatī, indem sie die Üppigkeit der Heilpflanzen und die Feuchtigkeit des Bodens wahrnehmen.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights tīrtha-yātrā as a dharmic practice: charity (dāna), ritual bathing (snāna) performed vidhivat, and reverence for sacred places yield spiritual merit. It also suggests that realized sages perceive subtle sacred realities—like the hidden Sarasvatī—through signs in nature.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Balarāma, after giving special gifts and spending one night, bathes according to proper rites and then hastens toward Udapāna-tīrtha. The narrator explains to King Janamejaya that this tīrtha grants great fruit merely by one’s presence, and that siddhas can infer the unseen Sarasvatī there from the lush medicinal growth and moist ground.