Shloka 26
ततस्तदीरिणं जात॑ समुद्रस्थावसर्पत: । तस्माद् देशान्नदीं चैव प्रोवाचासौ द्विजोत्तम:
tatas tadīriṇaṃ jātaṃ samudrasthāvasarpataḥ | tasmād deśān nadīṃ caiva provācāsau dvijottamaḥ |
Puis, lorsque la mer se retira de son ancien lit, cette contrée devint une étendue de sable stérile. Voyant cette terre et le fleuve qui la traversait, Utathya, le plus éminent des deux-fois-nés, s’adressa à la Sarasvatī : «Ô Sarasvatī craintive, deviens invisible et gagne les régions du désert. Ô bienheureuse, lorsque tu abandonneras ce lieu, ce pays deviendra impur.»
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links sacred ecology with dharma: a river is not merely water but a carrier of sanctity. When the divine river withdraws (becomes ‘invisible’/subterranean), the land is perceived to lose ritual purity, warning that moral and ritual order depends on honoring and preserving sacred sources.
The sea recedes, leaving a sandy wasteland. In that context, the sage Utathya addresses the Sarasvatī, urging her to become unseen and move into the desert region; he notes that if she abandons the area, the country will become impure.