Shloka 84
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
एवं ते सर्वमाख्यातं यथा शप्तो निशाकर: । प्रभासं च यथा तीर्थ तीर्थानां प्रवरं महत्,इस प्रकार चन्द्रमाको जैसे शाप प्राप्त हुआ था और महान् प्रभासतीर्थ जिस प्रकार सब तीर्थोमें श्रेष्ठ माना गया, वह सारा प्रसंग मैंने तुमसे कह सुनाया
evaṃ te sarvam ākhyātaṃ yathā śapto niśākaraḥ | prabhāsaṃ ca yathā tīrthaṃ tīrthānāṃ pravaraṃ mahat |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Thus I have told you everything—how the Moon (Niśākara) came under a curse, and how Prabhāsa, that great sacred ford, came to be regarded as the foremost among all pilgrimage places.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions and conditions (such as a śāpa, a curse) have moral and narrative consequences, and sacred places (tīrthas) are upheld as privileged sites for purification and dharmic renewal; the verse frames both themes as authoritative tradition being carefully transmitted.
Vaiśampāyana concludes a section of narration, stating that he has fully recounted two connected topics: the episode of the Moon being cursed and the account of why Prabhāsa is celebrated as the greatest among pilgrimage sites.