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Shloka 412

Vasiṣṭhāpavāha: Sarasvatī’s Diversion and Viśvāmitra’s Curse (वसिष्ठापवाहः)

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शल्यपर्वणि गदापर्वणि बलदेवतीर्थयात्रायां सारस्वतोपाख्याने एकचत्वारिंशो5ध्याय

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śalyaparvaṇi gadāparvaṇi baladevatīrthayātrāyāṃ sārasvatopākhyāne ekacatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

इति श्रीमहाभारते शल्यपर्वणि गदापर्वणि बलदेवतीर्थयात्रायां सारस्वतोपाख्याने एकचत्वारिंशोऽध्यायः।

Word by Word

इतिthus; end-quote marker

श्रीमहाभारतेin the holy Mahabharata

शल्यपर्वणिin the Shalya Parva

गदापर्वणिin the Gada Parva

बलदेवतीर्थयात्रायाम्in (the section on) Baladeva's pilgrimage to sacred fords

सारस्वतोपाख्यानेin the Sarasvata episode

एकचत्वारिंशःforty-first

अध्यायःchapter

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Mahābhārata

Śalya Parva

Gadā Parvan

Baladeva (Balarāma)

Tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage)

Sārasvata Upākhyāna

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?

As a colophon, the verse does not add new doctrinal content; its teaching is structural and interpretive: it situates the preceding material within a sacred and ethical frame—linking the war narrative to tīrtha-traditions and exemplary sub-stories (upākhyānas) that guide reflection on dharma, consequence, and purification.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narration reaches a formal stopping point: the text announces the completion of the forty-first chapter of the Śalya Parva, specifically within the Gadā-related section and Baladeva’s pilgrimage account, concluding the Sārasvata episode.