Shloka 4

Devanagari script

कस्यचित्‌ त्ववय कालस्य ऋषय: सुतपोधना: । तीर्थयात्रां समाजग्मु: सरस्वत्यां महीपते,पृथ्वीनाथ! कुछ कालके पश्चात्‌ बहुत-से तपोधन मुनि सरस्वतीके तटपर तीर्थयात्राके लिये पधारे

Transliteration

kasyacit tv avayā kālasya ṛṣayaḥ sutapodhanāḥ | tīrthayātrāṃ samājagmuḥ sarasvatyāṃ mahīpate ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: Спустя некоторое время многие мудрецы — богатые подвижничеством и духовной дисциплиной — собрались, о царь, чтобы совершить паломничество к священным бродам (тиртхам) на реке Сарасвати. Повествование переносится с поля брани в святую местность, показывая, что даже после войны сохраняется обычай искать очищение, наставление и дхармическое направление через тиртхи.

Word by Word

कस्यचित्of some (time/one)

तुbut/indeed

अवयthen/afterwards (reading uncertain)

कालस्यof time

ऋषयःsages

सुतपोधनाःrich in good austerity (great ascetics)

तीर्थयात्राम्a pilgrimage

समाजग्मुःthey came/assembled

सरस्वत्याम्on/at the Sarasvatī (river)

महीपतेO king (lord of the earth)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Ṛ

ṛṣayaḥ (sages)

Sarasvatī (river)

mahīpati (the king addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the dharmic practice of tīrthayātrā: sages seek sanctifying places not for escape, but for purification, remembrance of sacred order, and guidance. It implies that spiritual discipline and pilgrimage remain relevant even when society is shaken by conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reports a temporal transition: after some time, many austere sages gather on the banks of the Sarasvatī to undertake a pilgrimage to its sacred fords. This sets the stage for events and teachings associated with the Sarasvatī tīrthas in the Shalya Parva.