Shloka 43

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

Devanagari script

जनमेजय उवाच कथं तु भगवन्‌ सोमो यक्ष्मणा समगृहा[त । कथं च तीर्थप्रवरे तरमिं श्षन्द्रोी न्यमज्जत,जनमेजयने पूछा--भगवन्‌! चन्द्रमा कैसे राजयक्ष्मासे ग्रस्त हो गये और उस उत्तम तीर्थमें किस प्रकार उन्होंने स्नान किया?

Transliteration

janamejaya uvāca | kathaṁ tu bhagavan somo yakṣmaṇā samagṛhītaḥ | kathaṁ ca tīrthapravare tatra candro nyamajjat |

Translation

Janamejaya disse: “Ó venerável, como veio Soma (a Lua) a ser tomado pela consumpção (rājayakṣmā)? E como, naquele tīrtha excelso, a Lua se imergiu nas águas sagradas?”

Word by Word

जनमेजयःJanamejaya

उवाचsaid

कथम्how?

तुindeed/then/but

भगवन्O venerable one

सोमःSoma (the Moon)

यक्ष्मणाby consumption/disease (yakṣmā)

समगृहीतःseized/afflicted

अभवत्became/was

कथम्how?

चand

तीर्थप्रवरेin the best of holy fords (excellent tīrtha)

तरङ्गिण्याम्in the river (the wave-bearing one)

चन्द्रःthe Moon

न्यमज्जत्bathed/immersed (plunged)

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Soma (Moon)

Candra (Moon)

Yakṣmā / Rājayakṣmā

Tīrtha (a foremost sacred bathing place)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: even exalted beings may suffer affliction, and relief is sought through prescribed sacred means—especially tīrtha-bathing and ritual purification—highlighting humility, accountability, and the restorative power attributed to holy places.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janamejaya asks the sage to explain two linked points: (1) how Soma/Candra became afflicted by rājayakṣmā, and (2) how he performed immersion at a foremost tīrtha there—setting up the ensuing account of the Moon’s ailment and its remedy through pilgrimage and bathing.