Shloka 6

सरस्वतीतीर्थानुक्रमः — बलरामस्य तीर्थयात्रा

Sarasvatī Tīrtha Itinerary — Balarāma’s Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

कूपे कथं च हित्वैनं भ्रातरौ जग्मतुर्गृहान्‌ । कथं च याजयामास पपौ सोम॑ च वै कथम्‌

Transliteration

kūpe kathaṃ ca hitvainam bhrātarau jagmatur gṛhān | kathaṃ ca yājayāmāsa papau somaṃ ca vai katham ||

Translation

Janamejaya demanda : «Comment les deux frères l’abandonnèrent-ils dans le puits et rentrèrent-ils chez eux ? Et comment, plus tard, en vint-il à officier des sacrifices pour autrui, et comment donc but-il le Soma ?»

Word by Word

• कूपे: in a well
• कूपे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूप
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• हित्वा: having abandoned
• Type: Verb
• Root: हा (त्यागे)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• एनम्: him/this one
• एनम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम् (एतद्)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• भ्रातरौ: the two brothers
• भ्रातरौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• जग्मतुः: went
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Dual, Parasmaipada

• गृहान्: to the houses/home
• गृहान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृह
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• याजयामास: caused (someone) to perform a sacrifice / made (someone) officiate
• Type: Verb
• Root: यज्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada, causative (णिच्): याजय-

• पपौ: drank
• Type: Verb
• Root: पा (पाने)
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सोमम्: Soma (the ritual drink)
• सोमम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janamejaya
• two brothers (bhrātarau)
• well (kūpa)
• Soma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds ethical scrutiny of wrongdoing (abandoning someone in a well) alongside the later social-religious status of the same person (officiating sacrifices, drinking Soma). It invites reflection on how actions, consequences, and rehabilitation or reversal of fortune unfold within dharma and karma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janamejaya presses the narrator for details: he asks how two brothers left a man in a well and went home, and then how that man later attained the role of a ritual officiant who could conduct sacrifices for others and partake of Soma—markers of recognized ritual standing.