Shloka 9
Vṛddha-kanyā-carita and Balarāma’s Kurukṣetra Inquiry (वृद्धकन्या-चरितम् / कुरुक्षेत्रफल-प्रश्नः)
तां दिव्यवपुषं दृष्टवा तस्यर्षेभावितात्मन: । रेत: स्कन्नं सरस्वत्यां तत् सा जग्राह निम्नगा,उस दिव्यरूपधारिणी अप्सराको देखकर उन विशुद्ध अन्तःकरणवाले महर्षिका वीर्य सरस्वतीके जलमें गिर पड़ा। उस वीर्यको सरस्वती नदीने स्वयं ग्रहण कर लिया
tāṃ divyavapuṣaṃ dṛṣṭvā tasyarṣer bhāvitātmanaḥ | retaḥ skannaṃ sarasvatyāṃ tat sā jagrāha nimnagā ||
Seeing that apsaras of radiant, divine beauty, the semen of that great seer—whose inner self was purified and disciplined—spilled into the waters of the Sarasvatī. The river Sarasvatī herself, the flowing stream, received that seed.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a disciplined ascetic mind can be shaken by powerful sense-objects; the narrative frames the event within a larger moral universe where consequences unfold through impersonal forces (here, the sacred river), emphasizing vigilance, purity, and the inevitability of karmic/narrative outcomes.
An apsaras of divine beauty is seen by a purified seer; his semen is discharged into the Sarasvatī’s waters, and the river Sarasvatī personified is said to receive it—an origin-setting motif that prepares for subsequent developments tied to that seed.