Shloka 46

Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances

Devanagari script

नक्षत्रयोगनिरता: संख्यानार्थ च ताभवन्‌ | पत्न्‍्यो वै तस्य राजेन्द्र सोमस्य शुभकर्मण:,राजेन्द्र! शुभ कर्म करनेवाले सोमकी वे पत्नियाँ समयकी गणनाके लिये नक्षत्रोंसे सम्बन्ध रखनेके कारण उसी नामसे विख्यात हुईं

Transliteration

nakṣatrayoganiratāḥ saṅkhyānārthaṃ ca tābhavan | patnyo vai tasya rājendra somasya śubhakarmaṇaḥ ||

Translation

Wahai raja, isteri-isteri Soma—yang melakukan amal kebajikan—berpegang teguh pada hubungan mereka dengan Nakṣatra (rumah-rumah bulan) demi perhitungan masa; maka mereka pun masyhur dengan nama-nama itu sendiri, dan menjadi asas bagi penentuan waktu.

Word by Word

नक्षत्रयोगनिरताःengaged in the conjunction/connection with the nakshatras

संख्यानार्थम्for the purpose of counting/enumeration

चand

ताःthose (women)

अभवन्became / were

पत्न्यःwives

वैindeed

तस्यof him / of that

राजेन्द्रO best of kings

सोमस्यof Soma (the Moon)

शुभकर्मणःof the doer of auspicious deeds / of auspicious action

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Soma (Candra, the Moon)

Nakṣatras (lunar mansions)

Rājendra (the king addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links dharmic order to cosmic order: the structured cycle of nakṣatras provides a reliable framework for measuring time, suggesting that human life and ritual depend on intelligible, sacred patterns in nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana explains to the king that Soma’s wives are identified with the nakṣatras; because of their close association with these lunar mansions, they became famous by those names and functioned as markers for calendrical/time reckoning.