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 ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا— “اے دیوتاؤں کے پروردگار! جیسے جیسے وہ گھٹتا ہے، ویسے ہی پرجا بھی زوال کو پہنچتی ہے۔ بیلیں، گھاس، جڑی بوٹیاں اور طرح طرح کے بیج بھی اسی طرح ماند پڑ جاتے ہیں۔”
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.