Shloka 16
Sārasvata–Dadhīca Upākhyāna at Sarasvatī Tīrtha
Balarāma’s Pilgrimage Context
जैगीषव्यं ततो5पश्यद् गतं प्रागेव भारत । भारत! नदीपति समुद्रके पास पहुँचते ही धर्मात्मा देवलने देखा कि जैगीषव्य वहाँ पहलेसे ही गये हैं ।।
jaigīṣavyaṃ tato 'paśyad gataṃ prāg eva bhārata | bhārata nadīpatiṃ samudraṃ upasaṃprāpte dharmātmā devalo 'paśyat jaigīṣavyam tatra pūrvam eva gatam || tataḥ sa vismayadr̥ṣṭāntāṃ cintāṃ jagāmātha amitaprabhaḥ | sa mene—kathaṃ nu bhikṣur ayaṃ pūrvam ihāgataḥ, samudre snānakriyām api pariniṣpāditavān iti ||
Then Devala saw that Jaigīṣavya had already gone ahead, O Bhārata. When the righteous Devala reached the ocean, the lord of rivers, he found Jaigīṣavya there beforehand. At this, the sage Asita Devala, of immeasurable radiance, was struck with wonder and fell into anxious reflection: “How has this mendicant arrived here before me? He has even completed his bathing rite in the sea.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical-spiritual contrast between outward effort and inner attainment: a dharmic sage is humbled by another ascetic’s unexpected precedence, prompting self-examination rather than envy—an implicit lesson in humility, reverence for tapas, and recognition of unseen spiritual capacities.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Asita Devala reaches the ocean and discovers Jaigīṣavya has arrived earlier and already completed the sea-bathing rite. Devala is astonished and begins to ponder how the mendicant could have preceded him.