ततस्तदीरिणं जात॑ समुद्रस्थावसर्पत: । तस्माद् देशान्नदीं चैव प्रोवाचासौ द्विजोत्तम:
tatas tadīriṇaṃ jātaṃ samudrasthāvasarpataḥ | tasmād deśān nadīṃ caiva provācāsau dvijottamaḥ |
नंतर समुद्र आपल्या स्थानावरून सरकल्याने तो प्रदेश वाळवंटी, ऊसर झाला. तेव्हा त्या देशातून वाहणाऱ्या नदीला द्विजश्रेष्ठ उतथ्य म्हणाला—
अजुन उवाच
The verse links sacred ecology with dharma: a river is not merely water but a carrier of sanctity. When the divine river withdraws (becomes ‘invisible’/subterranean), the land is perceived to lose ritual purity, warning that moral and ritual order depends on honoring and preserving sacred sources.
The sea recedes, leaving a sandy wasteland. In that context, the sage Utathya addresses the Sarasvatī, urging her to become unseen and move into the desert region; he notes that if she abandons the area, the country will become impure.