Shloka 20

Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

गयस्य यजमानस्य गयेष्वेव महाक्रतुम्‌,राजा गय गयदेशमें ही एक महान्‌ यज्ञका अनुष्ठान कर रहे थे। उनके यज्ञमें भी सरिताओंमें श्रेष्ठ सरस्वतीका आवाहन किया गया था। कठोर व्रतका पालन करनेवाले महर्षि गयके यज्ञमें आयी हुई सरस्वतीको विशाला कहते हैं

Transliteration

gayasya yajamānasya gayeṣv eva mahākratum | rājā gaya gayadeśe meva hī ekaṁ mahān yajñaṁ anuṣṭhānaṁ kar rahe the | unke yajñameṁ bhī saritāoṁ meṁ śreṣṭhā sarasvatīkā āvāhana kiyā gayā thā | kaṭhora-vratakā pālana karanevāle maharṣi gayake yajñameṁ āyī huī sarasvatīko viśālā kahate haiṁ |

Translation

ໄວສັມປາຍະນະ ກ່າວວ່າ: ພະຣາຊາ ກະຍະ (Gaya) ຜູ້ເປັນຍະຊະມານະ (ຜູ້ປະກອບຍັດ) ກຳລັງປະກອບພິທີອັນໃຫຍ່ (ມະຫາກຣະຕຸ) ຢູ່ໃນກະຍະເອງ ໃນແດນກະຍະ. ໃນຍັດນັ້ນດ້ວຍ ໄດ້ອາວາຫະນ ຊາຣັສວະຕີ (Sarasvatī) ຜູ້ເປັນເລີດໃນບັນດາແມ່ນ້ຳ. ຊາຣັສວະຕີຜູ້ມາຮອດຍັດຂອງລິສີກະຍະຜູ້ຖືວຣະຕະອັນເຂັ້ມງວດ ຖືກເອີ້ນວ່າ «ວິຊາລາ» (Viśālā—ຜູ້ກວ້າງໃຫຍ່).

Word by Word

गयस्यof Gaya

यजमानस्यof the sacrificer/patron of the sacrifice

गयेषुin/among the Gayas (places called Gaya)

एवindeed/only

महाक्रतुम्a great sacrifice (great rite)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

King Gaya

Gaya (place/region)

Sarasvatī (river/deity)

Viśālā (epithet of Sarasvatī)

Mahākratu (great sacrifice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage underscores dharma expressed through yajña and vrata: sacred rites are grounded in disciplined conduct, and holy rivers like Sarasvatī are treated as living, invocable presences within ritual and sacred geography.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a great sacrifice performed by King Gaya in the Gaya region. Sarasvatī is invoked to the rite, and the form/presence of Sarasvatī that arrives there is referred to by the epithet ‘Viśālā’.