Shloka 193

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

Devanagari script

आगता सरितां श्रेष्ठा तत्र भारत पूजिता । भारत! नैमिषारण्यतीर्थमें उन सत्रयाजी मुनियोंके समक्ष आयी हुई सरिताओंमें श्रेष्ठ सरस्वती कांचनाक्षी नामसे सम्मानित हुईं

Transliteration

āgatā saritāṃ śreṣṭhā tatra bhārata pūjitā | bhārata! naimiṣāraṇya-tīrthe teṣāṃ satrayājīnāṃ munīnām agrataḥ āgatāsu saritsu śreṣṭhā sarasvatī kāñcanākṣī nāmnā saṃmānitābhavat |

Translation

ବୈଶମ୍ପାୟନ କହିଲେ—ହେ ଭାରତ! ସେଠାରେ ନଦୀମାନଙ୍କ ମଧ୍ୟରେ ଶ୍ରେଷ୍ଠା ସରସ୍ୱତୀଙ୍କୁ ଯଥାବିଧି ପୂଜା କରାଗଲା। ନୈମିଷାରଣ୍ୟ-ତୀର୍ଥରେ ସତ୍ରଯାଜୀ ମୁନିମାନଙ୍କ ସମ୍ମୁଖରେ ସେ ‘କାଞ୍ଚନାକ୍ଷୀ’ ନାମରେ ସମ୍ମାନିତ ହେଲେ।

Word by Word

• आगताः: having come, arrived
• आगताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु) / आगत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• सरिताम्: of rivers
• सरिताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरित्
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• श्रेष्ठा: the best, foremost
• श्रेष्ठा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रेष्ठ
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• भारत: O Bharata
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पूजिता: honored, worshipped
• पूजिता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूज् (धातु) / पूजित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhārata (Janamejaya)
• Sarasvatī
• Naimiṣāraṇya
• Tīrtha
• Satrayājī sages (munis)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores dharmic culture in which tīrthas and sacred rivers are honored as sources of purification and merit; reverence toward sanctified places and traditions is presented as an ethical practice that supports spiritual discipline and communal order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a scene at Naimiṣāraṇya where sages performing a prolonged sacrificial session honor the foremost river, Sarasvatī, venerating her with the epithet Kāñcanākṣī.