Shloka 21
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
तीर्थयात्रां ययौ राजन् कुरूणां वैशसे तदा । सरस्वती प्रतिस्रोत: समन्तादभिजग्मिवान्
tīrthayātrāṃ yayau rājan kurūṇāṃ vaiśase tadā | sarasvatī pratisrotaḥ samantād abhijagmivān ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: Ó rei, então, após o morticínio dos Kurus, ele partiu em peregrinação aos tīrthas, e aproximou-se do Sarasvatī avançando contra a corrente, chegando a ele de todos os lados.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
After catastrophic violence, the epic often turns to tīrtha-yātrā as a dharmic response—seeking purification, reflection, and restoration of moral order. The movement ‘against the current’ also suggests deliberate effort: ethical recovery requires intentional, strenuous turning away from the momentum of destruction.
The narrator states that, in the wake of the Kurus’ massacre, the subject (contextually a principal figure undertaking expiation) departs on a pilgrimage and reaches the sacred river Sarasvatī, traveling upstream and approaching its tīrthas from various directions.