Shloka 193

Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

आगता सरितां श्रेष्ठा तत्र भारत पूजिता । भारत! नैमिषारण्यतीर्थमें उन सत्रयाजी मुनियोंके समक्ष आयी हुई सरिताओंमें श्रेष्ठ सरस्वती कांचनाक्षी नामसे सम्मानित हुईं

Transliteration

āgatā saritāṃ śreṣṭhā tatra bhārata pūjitā | bhārata! naimiṣāraṇya-tīrthe teṣāṃ satrayājīnāṃ munīnām agrataḥ āgatāsu saritsu śreṣṭhā sarasvatī kāñcanākṣī nāmnā saṃmānitābhavat |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: There, O Bhārata, the foremost of rivers was duly honored. At the sacred ford of Naimiṣāraṇya, before those sages engaged in sacrificial sessions, the best among rivers—Sarasvatī—was revered under the epithet “Kāñcanākṣī.”

Word by Word

आगताःhaving come, arrived

सरिताम्of rivers

श्रेष्ठाthe best, foremost

तत्रthere

भारतO Bharata

पूजिताhonored, worshipped

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhārata (Janamejaya)

Sarasvatī

Naimiṣāraṇya

Tīrtha

Satrayājī sages (munis)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores dharmic culture in which tīrthas and sacred rivers are honored as sources of purification and merit; reverence toward sanctified places and traditions is presented as an ethical practice that supports spiritual discipline and communal order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a scene at Naimiṣāraṇya where sages performing a prolonged sacrificial session honor the foremost river, Sarasvatī, venerating her with the epithet Kāñcanākṣī.