Shloka 7
सरस्वतीतीर्थानुक्रमः — बलरामस्य तीर्थयात्रा
Sarasvatī Tīrtha Itinerary — Balarāma’s Pilgrimage
वैशम्पायन उवाच आसन पूर्वयुगे राजन् मुनयो भ्रातरस्त्रय:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | āsan pūrvayuge rājan munayo bhrātaras trayaḥ, brahmalokajitaḥ sarve tapasā brahmavādinaḥ |
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Raja, pada zaman purba hiduplah tiga bersaudara yang merupakan para resi. Ketiganya adalah pengajar Brahman; dengan kekuatan tapa-brata mereka telah menaklukkan (yakni memperoleh akses ke) alam Brahmā.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds tapas (disciplined austerity) and brahma-vāda (right spiritual understanding/teaching) as means to the highest attainments, presenting spiritual authority as earned through practice and insight rather than birth or power.
Vaiśampāyana begins an illustrative account by telling the king that, in an earlier age, three brothers who were sages lived and, through austerities, attained Brahmaloka—setting up a precedent or exemplum for the discussion that follows.