Shloka 88
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
तत्र दत्त्वा च दानानि विशिष्टानि हलायुध: । उषित्वा रजनीमेकां स्नात्वा च विधिवत्तदा,श्रीकृष्णके बड़े भाई हलधारी बलरामने वहाँ विधिपूर्वक स्नान करके उत्तम दान दे एक रात रहकर बड़ी उतावलीके साथ वहाँसे उदपानतीर्थको प्रस्थान किया, जो मंगलकारी आदि तीर्थ है। राजेन्द्र जममेजय! उदपान वह तीर्थ है, जहाँ उपस्थित होनेमात्रसे महान् फलकी प्राप्ति होती है। सिद्ध पुरुष वहाँ ओषधियों (वृक्षों और लताओं)-की स्निग्धता और भूमिकी आर्द्रता देखकर अदृश्य हुई सरस्वतीको भी जान लेते हैं
tatra dattvā ca dānāni viśiṣṭāni halāyudhaḥ | uṣitvā rajanīm ekāṁ snātvā ca vidhivattadā |
There, Halāyudha (Balarāma) bestowed distinguished gifts. Having stayed for a single night and then bathing according to proper rite, he set out from that place with eager haste toward Udapāna-tīrtha, an auspicious primeval sacred ford. O king Janamejaya, Udapāna is that tīrtha where merely arriving brings great spiritual reward; and the perfected sages, noticing the lushness of the healing plants and the moistness of the soil, discern even the (otherwise) unseen Sarasvatī.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights tīrtha-yātrā as a dharmic practice: charity (dāna), ritual bathing (snāna) performed vidhivat, and reverence for sacred places yield spiritual merit. It also suggests that realized sages perceive subtle sacred realities—like the hidden Sarasvatī—through signs in nature.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Balarāma, after giving special gifts and spending one night, bathes according to proper rites and then hastens toward Udapāna-tīrtha. The narrator explains to King Janamejaya that this tīrtha grants great fruit merely by one’s presence, and that siddhas can infer the unseen Sarasvatī there from the lush medicinal growth and moist ground.