Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 26
ततस्तदीरिणं जात॑ समुद्रस्थावसर्पत: । तस्माद् देशान्नदीं चैव प्रोवाचासौ द्विजोत्तम:
tatas tadīriṇaṃ jātaṃ samudrasthāvasarpataḥ | tasmād deśān nadīṃ caiva provācāsau dvijottamaḥ |
Then, as the sea withdrew from its former bed, that tract became a sandy waste. Seeing that land and the river that flowed through it, the foremost of Brahmins (Utathya) addressed the river, saying: “O timid Sarasvatī, become unseen and pass into the desert region. O auspicious one, when you abandon this place, this country will become impure.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links sacred ecology with dharma: a river is not merely water but a carrier of sanctity. When the divine river withdraws (becomes ‘invisible’/subterranean), the land is perceived to lose ritual purity, warning that moral and ritual order depends on honoring and preserving sacred sources.
The sea recedes, leaving a sandy wasteland. In that context, the sage Utathya addresses the Sarasvatī, urging her to become unseen and move into the desert region; he notes that if she abandons the area, the country will become impure.