Shloka 23
Uttanka’s Guru-Śuśrūṣā and the Commission to Retrieve the Maṇikuṇḍalas (उत्तङ्क-गुरुशुश्रूषा तथा मणिकुण्डल-आदेशः)
अथ तेनैव मार्गेण शड्खचक्रगदाधर:
atha tenaiva mārgeṇa śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-dharaḥ salila-vipramukhyebhyo mātṛ-srotasā vibho | tad-anantaraṃ śaṅkhaṃ cakraṃ ca gadāṃ dhārayamāṇo bhagavān śrī-kṛṣṇas tenaiva mārgeṇa prakaṭī-bhūya ājagāma | taṃ dṛṣṭvā mahā-matir uttaṅka uvāca— “puruṣottama prabho! bhavataḥ śreṣṭha-brāhmaṇebhyaś caṇḍāla-spṛṣṭaṃ tathā apavitraṃ jalaṃ dātuṃ na yuktam” iti |
तदनन्तर, उसी मार्ग से शंख, चक्र और गदा धारण करने वाले भगवान् प्रकट हुए—मातृस्रोतस नामक धारा के तट पर, जहाँ श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मण उपस्थित थे। उन्हें देखकर महामति उत्तंक ने कहा—“पुरुषोत्तम! प्रभो! श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मणों को चाण्डाल-स्पर्शित ऐसा अपवित्र जल देना आपको उचित नहीं।”
उत्तडुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a dharmic concern about ritual purity: Uttanka challenges the propriety of offering water deemed impure (touched by a Caṇḍāla) to eminent Brahmins, even when the giver is the Lord himself. It sets up a reflection on how social-ritual norms interact with divine purpose and ethical discernment.
Kṛṣṇa appears on the same route, identifiable by his conch, discus, and mace, near the stream called Mātṛ-srotas where leading Brahmins are present. Uttanka, seeing him, objects that it is improper to give those Brahmins water considered impure because it has been touched by a Caṇḍāla.