Shloka 36
सरस्वतीतीर्थानुक्रमः — बलरामस्य तीर्थयात्रा
Sarasvatī Tīrtha Itinerary — Balarāma’s Pilgrimage
स चाविशद् दिवं राजन् पुन: शब्दस्त्रितस्य वै,उदार चित्तवाले बलरामजी सरस्वती नदीके अन्तर्गत उदपानतीर्थका दर्शन करके उसकी बारंबार स्तुति-प्रशंसा करते हुए वहाँसे विनशनतीर्थमें चले गये ।।
sa cāviśad divaṁ rājan punaḥ śabdas tritasya vai | udāra-cittavān balarāmaḥ sarasvatī-nadyā antar-gata-udapāna-tīrthasya darśanaṁ kṛtvā tasya bāhuśaḥ stuti-praśaṁsāṁ kurvan tataḥ vināśana-tīrthaṁ jagāma || iti śrīmahābhārate śalya-parvaṇi gadā-parvaṇi baladeva-tīrtha-yātrāyāṁ tritākhyāne ṣaṭtriṁśo 'dhyāyaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Raja, ia (Trita) kemudian memasuki surga; dan kabar tentang Trita kembali terdengar. Balarāma yang berhati luhur, setelah menziarahi tīrtha sumur suci (Udāpāna) yang berada di dalam sungai Sarasvatī, berulang kali memuji dan menyanjungnya; lalu ia berangkat menuju tīrtha bernama Vināśana.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Reverent encounter with tīrthas—seeing them with faith and praising them—functions as an ethical-spiritual discipline: it cultivates humility, gratitude, and remembrance of exemplary traditions, and is presented as a means of accruing merit and inner purification.
The narrator concludes the Trita episode by stating that Trita attained heaven and that his account became known again. Then the focus returns to Balarāma’s pilgrimage: he visits a well-associated sacred spot within the Sarasvatī, praises it repeatedly, and moves onward to the next tīrtha called Vināśana.