Shloka 41
Sarasvatī-Śāpavimokṣa, Rākṣasa-Mokṣa, and Aruṇā-Tīrtha
Indra–Namuci Expiation
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शल्यपर्वके अन्तर्गत गदापव॑नमें बलदेवजीकी तीर्थयात्राके प्रसंगमें सारस्वतोपाख्यानविषयक इकतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
evaṁ vasiṣṭhāpavāhaḥ loke khyāto janādhipa nareśvara | iti sa sthānaṁ jagati vasiṣṭhāpavāha-nāmnā vikhyātaṁ abhavat | vasiṣṭaṁ bahāpayitvā saritāṁ śreṣṭhā sarasvatī punaḥ svapūrva-mārgeṇaiva vahantī babhūva |
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó governante entre os homens, aquele lugar tornou-se célebre no mundo pelo nome de Vasiṣṭhāpavāha. Depois de fazer com que Vasiṣṭha fosse levado pela corrente, Sarasvatī—a mais excelsa dos rios—voltou a correr pelo seu antigo leito.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred places gain enduring authority through remembered encounters with sages; the narrative frames tīrthas as moral-spiritual landmarks where past events become guides for later generations.
A site becomes famous as ‘Vasiṣṭhāpavāha’ because of an episode in which Vasiṣṭha is ‘carried away’; afterward the river Sarasvatī resumes her earlier course, marking the conclusion of that sacred incident.