Mahabharata 3.87.263 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 87, Shloka 263

Avanti–Narmadā–Puṣkara Tīrtha-Kathana (धौम्यकथितं तीर्थवर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

बाहुदा च नदी यत्र नन्दा च गिरिमूर्थनि । “वहीं तपस्वीजनोंसे सुशोभित पवित्र देववन नामक पुण्यक्षेत्र है, जहाँ पर्वतके शिखरपर बाहुदा और नन्दा नदी बहती हैं

Transliteration

bāhudā ca nadī yatra nandā ca girimūrdhani |

Translation

Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Há uma região sagrada chamada Devavana, tornada radiante pelos ascetas. Ali, no cume da montanha, correm os rios Bāhudā e Nandā—assinalando o lugar como um tīrtha puro e de grande mérito.”

Word by Word

• बाहुदा: Bāhudā (name of a river)
• बाहुदा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाहुदा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• नदी: river
• नदी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र

• नन्दा: Nandā (name of a river)
• नन्दा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नन्दा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• गिरि-मूर्धनि: on the mountain-top (lit. on the mountain's head)
• गिरि-मूर्धनि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि-मूर्धन्
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bāhudā (river)
• Nandā (river)
• Devavana (sacred grove/holy place)
• Mountain summit

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s ethic of sanctity through purity, ascetic presence, and sacred geography: a place becomes a tīrtha not merely by location but by the sustained spiritual practice of tapasvins and the natural markers (rivers, mountain summit) associated with holiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing a holy region encountered or referenced during the Vana Parva’s tīrtha-oriented narration, identifying Devavana and locating it by two rivers—Bāhudā and Nandā—flowing on the mountain top, thereby guiding the listener’s mental map of pilgrimage sites.