Shloka 263
Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage
आजगाम महाभागा सरिच्छेष्ठा सरस्वती । राजर्षियोंसे सेवित पुण्यमय ऋषभद्वीप तथा कुरुक्षेत्रमें जब महात्मा राजा कुरु यज्ञ कर रहे थे, उस समय सरिताओंमें श्रेष्ठ महाभागा सरस्वती वहाँ आयी थीं; उनका नाम हुआ सुरेणु
ājagāma mahābhāgā saricchreṣṭhā sarasvatī | rājarṣibhiḥ sevitam puṇyamayaṃ ṛṣabhadvīpaṃ tathā kurukṣetram | yadā mahātmā rājā kuruḥ yajñaṃ karoti sma, tadā saritāṃ śreṣṭhā mahābhāgā sarasvatī tatra āgatā; tasyā nāma abhavat sureṇuḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: The blessed Sarasvatī, best among rivers, came to that holy region—Ṛṣabhadvīpa and Kurukṣetra—frequented by royal seers. When the great-souled King Kuru was performing a sacrifice there, Sarasvatī arrived at that place; and there she came to be known by the name Sureṇu.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the sanctifying power of dharmic action: when a righteous king performs yajña in a holy region honored by sages, even the landscape and its rivers are portrayed as participating in and being defined by that merit, reinforcing the ethical ideal that public leadership should be grounded in sacred duty.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that the river Sarasvatī, revered as the foremost of rivers, came to the sacred area of Ṛṣabhadvīpa and Kurukṣetra at the time when King Kuru was conducting a sacrifice; in that context she is said to have acquired the name Sureṇu.