Shloka 18
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
विपाशा च वितस्ता च चन्द्रभागा इरावती । शतद्भूदेंविका सिन्धु: कौशिकी गौतमी तथा
vipāśā ca vitastā ca candrabhāgā irāvatī | śatadrū devikā sindhuḥ kauśikī gautamī tathā | yamunā narmadā caiva kāverīm atha nimnagām | ye nadīṣu uttamāḥ puṇya-salilāḥ sarasvatī virājamānāḥ samudre militaḥ | etāḥ sarva-saritāṃ prathamāḥ (pradhānāḥ) manyante |
Wika ni Śrī Maheśvara: “Ang Vipāśā, Vitastā, Candrabhāgā, Irāvatī, Śatadrū, Devikā, Sindhu, Kauśikī, at Gautamī—gayundin ang Yamunā, Narmadā, at Kāverī, ang ilog na umaagos pababa tungo sa dagat—ay pawang naririto. Sa mga ilog, ang Sarasvatī ang nagniningning na pinakadakila; banal ang kaniyang tubig, at sinasabing nakikipag-isa siya sa karagatan. Ang mga ito’y itinuturing na pangunahin sa lahat ng daluyan ng tubig.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates tīrtha-s and sacred rivers as sources of purification and merit, presenting a dharmic worldview where geography is ethically charged: contact with holy waters and remembrance of revered rivers supports inner cleansing and religious duty.
Śrī Maheśvara enumerates prominent rivers and singles out Sarasvatī as especially eminent and holy, describing these waterways as foremost among streams and (in the case of Sarasvatī) as reaching/merging with the ocean—part of a broader sacred-topography discourse.