Shloka 40

Saptasārasvata-tīrtha-prasaṅgaḥ | The Saptasārasvata Pilgrimage Account and the Maṅkaṇaka Narrative

Devanagari script

कम्मिंश्चित्‌ कारणे तत्र विस्मितो यदुनन्दन: । निवृत्ता हेतुना केन कथमेव सरिद्वरा

Transliteration

kasmicit k01raee tatra vismito yadunandana | nivtt01 hetun01 kena katham eva saridvar01

Translation

Janamejaya fragte: „Aus welchem Grund geriet Yadunandana (Balarāma) dort in Staunen? Aus welcher Ursache stellte jener vortreffliche Fluss seinen Lauf ein, und wie geschah dies?“

Word by Word

कस्मिंश्चित्in some (unspecified)

कारणेcause, reason

तत्रthere

विस्मितःastonished

यदुनन्दनःthe delight of the Yadus (Krishna)

निवृत्ताhas turned back/ceased/returned

हेतुनाby/with a cause

केनby what? by whom?

कथम्how?

एवindeed/just

सरिद्वराthe excellent river (best of rivers)

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Yadunandana (Krishna)

saridvar01 (a great river)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse models dharmic inquiry: when an extraordinary event occurs (astonishment, a river stopping), one should seek the underlying cause (hetu) and the precise manner (katham), emphasizing careful questioning as a path to understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the frame dialogue, King Janamejaya asks the narrator to explain a specific episode: why K99a (Yadunandana) was amazed and what caused an eminent river to cease or turn back, requesting the causal explanation and sequence of events.