Shloka 78
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
सरस्वतीं ततः सोम: स जगामर्षिशासनात् | प्रभासं प्रथमं तीर्थ सरस्वत्या जगाम ह,ऋषि (दक्ष प्रजापति)-के इस आदेशसे सोम सरस्वतीके प्रथम तीर्थ प्रभासक्षेत्रमें गये
sarasvatīṃ tataḥ somaḥ sa jagām ṛṣiśāsanāt | prabhāsaṃ prathamaṃ tīrthaṃ sarasvatyā jagāma ha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then Soma, in obedience to the command of the seers, went to Sarasvatī. Indeed, he proceeded to Prabhāsa—the foremost sacred ford of the Sarasvatī—to follow the ordained course of pilgrimage and purification.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic discipline: even a powerful deity like Soma acts under the guidance of ṛṣis, showing that moral-spiritual authority and prescribed rites (tīrtha-yātrā, purification) should be respected and followed.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Soma, following the seers’ injunction (linked in the received tradition to Dakṣa Prajāpati’s directive), sets out to the Sarasvatī and first reaches Prabhāsa, described as the foremost tīrtha of the Sarasvatī.