Shloka 24
सरो भिन्न तया नद्या सरयू: सा ततो5भवत् | हताश्च खलिनो यत्र स देश: खलिनो5भवत्
saro bhinnatayā nadyā sarayūḥ sā tato 'bhavat | hatāś ca khalino yatra sa deśaḥ khalino 'bhavat ||
सरो भिन्नं तया नद्या सरयुः सा ततोऽभवत् । हताश्च खलिनो यत्र स देशः खलिनोऽभवत् ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys an etiological lesson: places and rivers are remembered through morally significant events. The naming of Sarayū and Khalina preserves the memory of transformative acts—natural and heroic—that uphold order and become part of dharmic cultural memory.
A lake is breached by a river, and the resulting stream becomes the Sarayū. Separately, the land where the beings called the Khalins were killed becomes known as Khalina, showing how geography is linked to narrative history.