Shloka 41
Sarasvatī-Śāpavimokṣa, Rākṣasa-Mokṣa, and Aruṇā-Tīrtha
Indra–Namuci Expiation
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शल्यपर्वके अन्तर्गत गदापव॑नमें बलदेवजीकी तीर्थयात्राके प्रसंगमें सारस्वतोपाख्यानविषयक इकतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
evaṁ vasiṣṭhāpavāhaḥ loke khyāto janādhipa nareśvara | iti sa sthānaṁ jagati vasiṣṭhāpavāha-nāmnā vikhyātaṁ abhavat | vasiṣṭaṁ bahāpayitvā saritāṁ śreṣṭhā sarasvatī punaḥ svapūrva-mārgeṇaiva vahantī babhūva |
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai penguasa manusia, tempat itu termasyhur di dunia dengan nama Vasiṣṭhāpavāha. Setelah menghanyutkan Vasiṣṭha, Sarasvatī—yang utama di antara sungai-sungai—kembali mengalir pada alurnya yang semula.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred places gain enduring authority through remembered encounters with sages; the narrative frames tīrthas as moral-spiritual landmarks where past events become guides for later generations.
A site becomes famous as ‘Vasiṣṭhāpavāha’ because of an episode in which Vasiṣṭha is ‘carried away’; afterward the river Sarasvatī resumes her earlier course, marking the conclusion of that sacred incident.