Shloka 24
सरो भिन्न तया नद्या सरयू: सा ततो5भवत् | हताश्च खलिनो यत्र स देश: खलिनो5भवत्
saro bhinnatayā nadyā sarayūḥ sā tato 'bhavat | hatāś ca khalino yatra sa deśaḥ khalino 'bhavat ||
Bhishma dijo: «Cuando aquel lago fue abierto por el río, el caudal que surgió después fue conocido como el Sarayū. Y la región donde fueron abatidos los demonios llamados Khalin llegó a ser célebre con el nombre de Khalina».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys an etiological lesson: places and rivers are remembered through morally significant events. The naming of Sarayū and Khalina preserves the memory of transformative acts—natural and heroic—that uphold order and become part of dharmic cultural memory.
A lake is breached by a river, and the resulting stream becomes the Sarayū. Separately, the land where the beings called the Khalins were killed becomes known as Khalina, showing how geography is linked to narrative history.