Shloka 71
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
क्षयाच्चैवास्य देवेश प्रजाश्नैव गता: क्षयम् वीरुदोषधयश्नैव बीजानि विविधानि च
kṣayāccaivāsya deveśa prajāś caiva gatāḥ kṣayam | vīrud-oṣadhayaś caiva bījāni vividhāni ca ||
ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— “ದೇವೇಶ್ವರನೇ! ಅವನ ಕ್ಷಯದಿಂದ ಪ್ರಜೆಯೂ ಕ್ಷಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಲತೆಗಳು, ಹುಲ್ಲುಗಳು, ಔಷಧಿಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ನಾನಾವಿಧ ಬೀಜಗಳೂ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಕ್ಷೀಣಿಸುತ್ತವೆ.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the world is an interconnected moral-cosmic system: when a sustaining power (here, the moon’s nourishing influence) diminishes, the decline spreads to society and to vegetation, signaling a broader imbalance in order (dharma) and vitality.
Vaiśampāyana describes ominous conditions: the waning of the moon is presented as a portent whose effects are seen in the weakening of people and the withering of plants and seeds—an atmosphere of universal exhaustion surrounding the events of the war.