Shloka 5
Vasiṣṭhāpavāha: Sarasvatī’s Diversion and Viśvāmitra’s Curse (वसिष्ठापवाहः)
पूर्वकालमें नैमिषारण्यनिवासी ऋषियोंने बारह वर्षोतक चालू रहनेवाले एक सत्रका आरम्भ किया था। जब वह पूरा हो गया, तब वे सब ऋषि विश्वजित् नामक यज्ञके अन्तमें पांचाल देशमें गये। वहाँ जाकर उन मनस्वी मुनियोंने उस देशके राजासे दक्षिणाके लिये धनकी याचना की ।। (तत्र ते लेभिरे राजन् पञ्चाले भ्यो महर्षयः) बलान्वितान् वत्सतरान् निर्व्याधीनेकविंशतिम् । तानब्रवीद् बको दाल्भ्यो विभजध्वं पशूनिति,क्रोधेन महता5<विष्टो धर्मात्मा वै प्रतापवान् | वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन! ब्राह्मणत्वकी प्राप्ति करानेवाले उस तीर्थसे प्रस्थित होकर यदुनन्दन बलरामजी “अवाकीर्ण' तीर्थमें गये, जहाँ आश्रममें रहते हुए महातपस्वी धर्मात्मा एवं प्रतापी दलभपुत्र बकने महान् क्रोधमें भरकर घोर तपस्याद्वारा अपने शरीरको सुखाते हुए विचित्रवीर्यकुमार राजा धृतराष्ट्रके राष्ट्रका होम कर दिया था
pūrvakāle naimiṣāraṇyanivāsibhir ṛṣibhir dvādaśavarṣotkaṃ pravartamānaṃ satram ārabdhābhūt | tasmin samāpte te sarve ṛṣayo viśvajitnāma-yajñasya ante pañcāleṣu jagmuḥ | tatra gatvā te manasvino munayo deśarājānaṃ dakṣiṇārthaṃ dhanaṃ yayācuḥ || (tatra te lebhire rājan pañcālebhyo maharṣayaḥ) balānvitān vatsatarān nirvyādhīn ekaviṃśatim | tān abravīd bako dālbhyō vibhajadhvaṃ paśūn iti, krodhena mahatāviṣṭo dharmātmā vai pratāpavān || vaiśampāyana uvāca—rājan! brāhmaṇatvapradāyinaḥ tasmāt tīrthāt prasthāya yadunandano balarāmo ’vākīrṇa-tīrthaṃ jagāma, yatrāśrame vasan mahātapā dharmātmā pratāpavān dālbhya-putro bako mahākrodhāviṣṭaḥ ghora-tapasā śarīraṃ śoṣayan vicitravīrya-kumārasya rājño dhṛtarāṣṭrasya rāṣṭraṃ homaṃ cakāra |
Vaiśampāyana said: Long ago, the sages dwelling in Naimiṣāraṇya began a sacrificial session that continued for twelve years. When it was completed, they all went to Pāñcāla at the conclusion of a sacrifice called Viśvajit. There those high-minded seers asked the king of that land for wealth as the sacrificial fee. The Pāñcālas gave them twenty-one strong, healthy yearling calves. Then Baka, the son of Dālbhi—righteous and renowned, yet seized by great anger—said to them, “Divide these cattle among yourselves.” Vaiśampāyana continued: O king, after departing from that sacred ford which bestows the status of a brāhmaṇa, Balarāma, the delight of the Yadus, went to the Avākīrṇa Tīrtha. There, in an āśrama, the great ascetic Baka, son of Dālbhi—virtuous and powerful—overcome by fierce wrath, dried up his body through severe austerity and, as it were, ‘offered into the fire’ the realm of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Vicitravīrya. The passage underscores how anger, even in the righteous, can become a destructive force, while sacred places and vows are portrayed as morally potent in shaping worldly outcomes.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the moral danger of krodha (anger): even a dharmic, powerful ascetic can become destructive when seized by wrath. It also frames dakṣiṇā and tīrtha as ethically charged institutions—gifts and sacred places are not merely ritual details but forces that shape social order and karmic consequence.
After completing a twelve-year satra at Naimiṣāraṇya, sages go to Pāñcāla at the end of the Viśvajit sacrifice and request dakṣiṇā. They receive twenty-one healthy calves, and the ascetic Baka Dālbhi tells them to divide the cattle, though he is described as overtaken by great anger. The narration then shifts to Balarāma’s pilgrimage to Avākīrṇa Tīrtha, where Baka’s severe austerity—performed in anger—is said to have ‘offered into the fire’ (i.e., harmed/consumed) Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s realm.