Shloka 15
Avanti–Narmadā–Puṣkara Tīrtha-Kathana (धौम्यकथितं तीर्थवर्णनम्)
पज्चालेषु च कौरव्य कथयन्त्युत्पलावनम् । विश्वामित्रोडयजद् यत्र पुत्रेण सह कौशिक:,“कुरुनन्दन! पंचालदेशमें ऋषिलोग उत्पलावन बतलाते हैं, जहाँ कुशिकनन्दन विश्वामित्रने अपने पुत्रके साथ यज्ञ किया था
Pañcāleṣu ca kauravya kathayanty utpalāvanam | Viśvāmitro 'yajad yatra putreṇa saha Kauśikaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O scion of the Kurus, in the land of the Pañcālas the sages speak of a grove called Utpalāvana—where Kauśika Viśvāmitra once performed a sacrifice together with his son.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethic of preserving sacred memory: places become morally and spiritually significant through righteous acts like yajña, and later generations learn dharma by recalling and honoring such traditions.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating to King Janamejaya, identifies a renowned site in Pañcāla called Utpalāvana and notes that sages remember it as the place where the sage Viśvāmitra (Kauśika) performed a sacrifice together with his son.