Shloka 71
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
क्षयाच्चैवास्य देवेश प्रजाश्नैव गता: क्षयम् वीरुदोषधयश्नैव बीजानि विविधानि च
kṣayāccaivāsya deveśa prajāś caiva gatāḥ kṣayam | vīrud-oṣadhayaś caiva bījāni vividhāni ca ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच— देवेश्वर, अस्य क्षयात् प्रजाश्चैव गता क्षयम्; वीरुदोषधयश्चैव बीजानि विविधानि च क्षीयन्ते।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the world is an interconnected moral-cosmic system: when a sustaining power (here, the moon’s nourishing influence) diminishes, the decline spreads to society and to vegetation, signaling a broader imbalance in order (dharma) and vitality.
Vaiśampāyana describes ominous conditions: the waning of the moon is presented as a portent whose effects are seen in the weakening of people and the withering of plants and seeds—an atmosphere of universal exhaustion surrounding the events of the war.