Shloka 14

Plakṣāvataraṇa–Yamunā Tīrtha and Prajāpati’s Vedī

Kurukṣetra Threshold

Devanagari script

अत्र सारस्वतैर्यज्नैरीजाना: परमर्षय: । यूपोलूखलिकास्तात गच्छन्त्यवभूथप्लवम्‌,यहीं यूप और ओखली आदि यज्ञ-साधनोंका संग्रह करनेवाले महर्षियोंने सारस्वत यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान करके अवभृथ स्नान किया था

Transliteration

atra sārasvatair yajñair ījānāḥ paramarṣayaḥ | yūpolūkhalikās tāta gacchanty avabhūthaplavam ||

Translation

அன்புடையோனே, இங்கே பரமரிஷிகள் சாரஸ்வத யாகங்களைச் செய்து, யூபம், உலூகலம் முதலிய யாக உபகரணங்களுடன் அவப்ருத ஸ்நானத்திற்குச் செல்கின்றனர்.

Word by Word

अत्रhere

सारस्वतैःwith/through Sarasvata (connected with Sarasvatī) (rites)

यज्ञैःby sacrifices

ईजानाःhaving sacrificed / having performed worship

परमर्षयःthe great sages

यूपोलूखलिकाःthose connected with sacrificial posts and mortars (i.e., having/using such implements)

तातO dear one / O son

गच्छन्तिthey go / they proceed

अवभूथप्लवम्the avabhṛtha bath (final ceremonial bath)

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

Paramarṣis (great sages)

Sārasvata yajñas (Sārasvata sacrifices)

Yūpa (sacrificial post)

Ulūkhala (mortar)

Avabhṛtha-snāna (concluding ritual bath)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma expressed through correct completion of Vedic rites: sacrifice is not only offering but also disciplined conclusion and purification (avabhṛtha). It underscores reverence for ritual order and the sanctity generated by sages’ observances.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker points out a sacred location where great sages performed Sārasvata sacrifices and then went for the avabhṛtha bath, marking the formal completion of the ritual; the mention of yūpa and ulūkhala evokes the tangible sacrificial apparatus associated with that holy site.