Shloka 326
Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage
आपगामवगाढस्य राजन प्रक्रीडितं महत् । राजन! कुमारावस्थासे ही ब्रह्मचर्यव्रतका पालन तथा प्रतिदिन सरस्वती नदीमें स्नान करनेवाले मंकणक मुनिका महान् लीलामय चरित्र सुनो
āpāgām avagāḍhasya rājan prakrīḍitaṃ mahat | rājan! kumārāvasthāse hi brahmacaryavratakā pālana tathā pratidina sarasvatī-nadīṃ snāna-karṇavāle maṅkaṇaka-muneḥ mahān līlāmaya-caritraṃ śṛṇu |
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó rei, escuta o grande episódio, de tom lúdico (līlā), do sábio Maṅkaṇaka—como, imerso na corrente do rio, brincou com grande vigor; e como, desde a infância, manteve o voto de brahmacarya e se banhava todos os dias no rio Sarasvatī.” A narrativa realça o poder dos votos disciplinados e a necessidade moral, sutil, de governar até o orgulho e a exuberância espirituais.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical value of sustained discipline—especially brahmacarya and regular purificatory practice—while preparing the listener for a story that also cautions that even spiritual achievement can be accompanied by exuberance that must be governed by humility and self-control.
Vaiśampāyana addresses the King and introduces an upcoming episode about the sage Maṅkaṇaka: his great, playful act while immersed in a river-stream, along with background details that he observed brahmacarya from boyhood and bathed daily in the Sarasvatī.