Shloka 2

Vaitaraṇī-tīrtha and the Devayāna Path

Kaliṅga Episode

Devanagari script

स सागरं समासाद्य गड़ाया: संगमे नृप । नदीशतानां पज्चानां मध्ये चक्रे समाप्लवम्‌,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! तदनन्तर पाण्डुनन्दन युधिष्ठिरने कौशिकी नदीके तटवर्ती सभी तीर्थों और मन्दिरोंकी क्रमश: यात्रा की। राजन! उन्होंने गंगा- सागरसंगमतीर्थमें समुद्रतटपर पहुँचकर पाँच सौ नदियोंके जलमें स्नान किया

Transliteration

sa sāgaraṃ samāsādya gaṅgāyāḥ saṅgame nṛpa | nadīśatānāṃ pañcānāṃ madhye cakre samāplavam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó rei, tendo alcançado o oceano na confluência do Gaṅgā, realizou ali a ablução prescrita—imerso entre as águas de quinhentos rios.”

Word by Word

• {'saḥ': 'he', 'sāgaram': 'the ocean, sea', 'samāsādya': 'having reached, having arrived at', 'gaṅgāyāḥ': 'of the Gaṅgā river', 'saṅgame': 'at the confluence, meeting-place (of waters)', 'nṛpa': 'O king', 'nadī': 'river', 'śatānām': 'of hundreds', 'pañcānām': 'of five (i.e., five hundreds = five hundred)', 'madhye': 'in the midst of, among', 'cakre': 'he did, he performed', 'samāplavam': 'a complete immersion/ablution

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janamejaya
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Gaṅgā
• Sāgara (ocean/sea)
• Gaṅgā-sāgara-saṅgama (confluence pilgrimage site)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharmic discipline through tīrtha-yātrā: approaching sacred confluences with reverence and performing prescribed rites (ritual immersion) as a means of inner purification, steadiness of mind, and reaffirmation of righteous conduct after suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira reaches the ocean at the Gaṅgā’s confluence (Gaṅgā-sāgara) and performs a full ritual bath there, described as immersion amid the waters associated with ‘five hundred rivers,’ emphasizing the sanctity and magnitude of the tīrtha.