Shloka 37

सरस्वतीतीर्थानुक्रमः — बलरामस्य तीर्थयात्रा

Sarasvatī Tīrtha Itinerary — Balarāma’s Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

वर्तमाने महायज्ञे त्रितस्य सुमहात्मन:

Transliteration

vartamāne mahāyajñe tritasya sumahātmanaḥ

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Während das große Opferritual des edelmütigen Trita im Gange war, wendet sich die Erzählung den Geschehnissen zu, die sich mitten in jenem feierlichen Yajña entfalteten, wo rituelle Ordnung und sittliche Absicht das Kommende rahmen.

Word by Word

• वर्तमाने: in progress; occurring
• वर्तमाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर्तमान (वृत् धातु, शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• महायज्ञे: in the great sacrifice
• महायज्ञे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महायज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• त्रितस्य: of Trita
• त्रितस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रित (नामन्)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• सुमहात्मनः: of the very great-souled (one)
• सुमहात्मनः: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुमहात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Trita
• mahāyajña (great sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds yajña as a setting where dharma is enacted through disciplined action and right intention; it signals that ethical meaning in the epic is often framed by ritual order and the character of the agent (here, the ‘great-souled’ Trita).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana introduces a scene by stating that Trita’s great sacrifice is currently underway, functioning as a temporal and thematic frame for the events that follow in the chapter.