Mahabharata 9.35.43 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 35, Shloka 43
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
जनमेजय उवाच कथं तु भगवन् सोमो यक्ष्मणा समगृहा[त । कथं च तीर्थप्रवरे तरमिं श्षन्द्रोी न्यमज्जत
janamejaya uvāca | kathaṁ tu bhagavan somo yakṣmaṇā samagṛhītaḥ | kathaṁ ca tīrthapravare tatra candro nyamajjat |
Janamejaya said: “O revered one, how did Soma (the Moon) come to be seized by consumption (rājayakṣmā)? And how, at that most excellent sacred ford, did the Moon immerse himself in the holy waters?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: even exalted beings may suffer affliction, and relief is sought through prescribed sacred means—especially tīrtha-bathing and ritual purification—highlighting humility, accountability, and the restorative power attributed to holy places.
King Janamejaya asks the sage to explain two linked points: (1) how Soma/Candra became afflicted by rājayakṣmā, and (2) how he performed immersion at a foremost tīrtha there—setting up the ensuing account of the Moon’s ailment and its remedy through pilgrimage and bathing.
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