Shloka 6
सरस्वतीतीर्थानुक्रमः — बलरामस्य तीर्थयात्रा
Sarasvatī Tīrtha Itinerary — Balarāma’s Pilgrimage
कूपे कथं च हित्वैनं भ्रातरौ जग्मतुर्गृहान् । कथं च याजयामास पपौ सोम॑ च वै कथम्
kūpe kathaṃ ca hitvainam bhrātarau jagmatur gṛhān | kathaṃ ca yājayāmāsa papau somaṃ ca vai katham ||
ジャナメージャヤは問うた。「二人の兄弟は、いかにして彼を井戸に捨て置き、家へ帰ったのか。さらに後に、彼はいかにして他者のために祭祀を執り行う祭官となり、そしてまことに、いかにしてソーマを飲んだのか。」
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds ethical scrutiny of wrongdoing (abandoning someone in a well) alongside the later social-religious status of the same person (officiating sacrifices, drinking Soma). It invites reflection on how actions, consequences, and rehabilitation or reversal of fortune unfold within dharma and karma.
Janamejaya presses the narrator for details: he asks how two brothers left a man in a well and went home, and then how that man later attained the role of a ritual officiant who could conduct sacrifices for others and partake of Soma—markers of recognized ritual standing.