Shloka 326

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

Devanagari script

आपगामवगाढस्य राजन प्रक्रीडितं महत्‌ । राजन! कुमारावस्थासे ही ब्रह्मचर्यव्रतका पालन तथा प्रतिदिन सरस्वती नदीमें स्नान करनेवाले मंकणक मुनिका महान्‌ लीलामय चरित्र सुनो

Transliteration

āpāgām avagāḍhasya rājan prakrīḍitaṃ mahat | rājan! kumārāvasthāse hi brahmacaryavratakā pālana tathā pratidina sarasvatī-nadīṃ snāna-karṇavāle maṅkaṇaka-muneḥ mahān līlāmaya-caritraṃ śṛṇu |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, listen to the great, playful episode of the sage Maṅkaṇaka—how, while immersed in a river-stream, he sported mightily; and how, from his boyhood onward, he maintained the vow of brahmacarya and bathed every day in the river Sarasvatī.” The narrative highlights the power of disciplined vows and the subtle moral need to govern even one’s spiritual pride and exuberance.

Word by Word

• आपगाम्: river (as object: the river)
• आपगाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आपगा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अवगाढस्य: of (one) immersed/entered (in it)
• अवगाढस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अवगाढ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• राजन्: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• प्रक्रीडितम्: sporting/playing; sport (act of play)
• प्रक्रीडितम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रक्रीडित
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• महत्: great
• महत्: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• rājan (the King, i.e., Janamejaya as listener)
• Maṅkaṇaka Muni
• Sarasvatī River
• āpāgā (river-stream)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical value of sustained discipline—especially brahmacarya and regular purificatory practice—while preparing the listener for a story that also cautions that even spiritual achievement can be accompanied by exuberance that must be governed by humility and self-control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses the King and introduces an upcoming episode about the sage Maṅkaṇaka: his great, playful act while immersed in a river-stream, along with background details that he observed brahmacarya from boyhood and bathed daily in the Sarasvatī.