Shloka 28

Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

समाहूता कुरुक्षेत्रे दिव्यतोया सरस्वती । दक्षेण यजता चापि गड्जाद्वारे सरस्वती

Transliteration

samāhūtā kurukṣetre divyatoyā sarasvatī | dakṣeṇa yajatā cāpi gaḍjādvāre sarasvatī

Translation

वैशम्पायन बोले—कुरुक्षेत्र में दिव्य और पवित्र जलवाली सरस्वती का आवाहन किया गया; और गड्जाद्वार नामक स्थान पर यज्ञ करते हुए दक्ष ने भी वहीं सरस्वती का आवाहन किया।

Word by Word

समाहूताhaving been invoked/called

कुरुक्षेत्रेin Kurukṣetra

दिव्यतोयाwith divine waters

सरस्वतीSarasvatī (river/goddess)

दक्षेणby Dakṣa

यजताby (him) sacrificing/worshipping

चand

अपिalso/even

गड्जाद्वारेat (the place called) Gaḍjā-dvāra

सरस्वतीSarasvatī

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kurukṣetra

Sarasvatī

Dakṣa

Gaḍjādvāra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the dharmic idea that places become morally and spiritually charged through yajña and invocation: sacred waters and sacred sites support purification, remembrance of right conduct, and the framing of later events within a consecrated order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana identifies a specific sacred setting: Sarasvatī is said to have been invoked at Kurukṣetra, and likewise invoked by Dakṣa during a sacrifice at Gaḍjādvāra—locating the action within a recognized tīrtha landscape.