Shloka 39
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
यथाक्रमेण भगवंस्तीर्थानामनुपूर्वश: । ब्रह्मन ब्रह्मविदां श्रेष्ठ परं कौतूहलं हि मे,जनमेजय बोले--ब्रह्मवेत्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ और मनुष्योंमें उत्तम ब्राह्मगदेव! अब आप मुझे सरस्वती-तटवर्ती तीर्थोंके गुण, प्रभाव और उत्पत्तिकी कथा सुनाइये। भगवन्! क्रमश: उन तीर्थोके सेवनका फल और जिस कर्मसे वहाँ सिद्धि प्राप्त होती है, उसका अनुष्ठान भी बताइये, मेरे मनमें यह सब सुननेके लिये बड़ी उत्कण्ठा हो रही है
yathākrameṇa bhagavaṁs tīrthānām anupūrvaśaḥ | brahman brahmavidāṁ śreṣṭha paraṁ kautūhalaṁ hi me || janamejaya uvāca ||
Janamejaya said: “O venerable one, please recount, in due order and sequence, the sacred fords (tīrthas). O Brahman, best among the knowers of Brahman—my curiosity is profound. I long to hear, one by one, the merits, powers, and origins of the tīrthas along the Sarasvatī, and also the fruits of visiting them in proper order, together with the disciplines by which success is attained there.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic approach to sacred practice: pilgrimage and ritual are not random acts but are to be undertaken with proper order (yathākrameṇa, anupūrvaśaḥ), informed guidance, and a sincere desire to understand the origins and ethical-spiritual fruits of holy places.
King Janamejaya addresses the sage-narrator with respectful titles and requests a systematic account of the tīrthas—especially those connected with the Sarasvatī—asking for their qualities, powers, origin-stories, and the practices by which one attains spiritual success there.