Shloka 2

Saptasārasvata-tīrtha-prasaṅgaḥ | The Saptasārasvata Pilgrimage Account and the Maṅkaṇaka Narrative

Devanagari script

तस्मात्‌ तु ऋषयो नित्यं प्राहुर्विनशनेति च । वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन! उदपानतीर्थसे चलकर हलधारी बलराम विनशनतीर्थमें आये, जहाँ (दुष्कर्मपरायण) शूद्रों और आभीरोंके प्रति द्वेष होनेसे सरस्वती नदी विनष्ट (अदृश्य) हो गयी है। इसीलिये ऋषिगण उसे सदा विनशनतीर्थ कहते हैं ।।

Transliteration

tasmāt tu ṛṣayo nityaṁ prāhur vinaśaneti ca | tatrāpy upaspṛśya balaḥ sarasvatyāṁ mahābalaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Vì thế các bậc hiền triết luôn gọi nơi ấy là “Vinaśana” (Chốn Biến Mất). Tại đó, Balarāma—đấng dũng lực phi thường—cũng làm lễ tẩy tịnh bằng cách chạm vào dòng nước Sarasvatī. Đoạn văn đặt địa điểm ấy như một lời cảnh tỉnh đạo lý: khi thù hằn và điều ác lấn át, ngay cả con sông thiêng cũng được nói là khuất khỏi tầm mắt, và tên gọi “Vinaśana” lưu giữ ký ức luân lý ấy.

Word by Word

• {'tasmāt': 'therefore

• for that reason', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic/contrastive particle)', 'ṛṣayaḥ': 'sages

• seers', 'nityam': 'always

• continually', 'prāhuḥ': 'they said

• they call (perfect of √brū)', 'vinaśana': 'Vinaśana

• ‘disappearance/destruction’ (a tīrtha-name)', 'iti': 'thus

• so (quotative particle)', 'ca': 'and

• also', 'tatra api': 'there also

• in that place too', 'upaspṛśya': 'having touched water for purification

• having performed ablution (gerund of upa-√spṛś)', 'balaḥ': 'Bala (Balarāma)

• also ‘strength’ as an epithet', 'sarasvatyām': 'in/at the Sarasvatī (locative)', 'mahābalaḥ': 'very strong

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Balarāma (Haladhara/Bala)
• Sarasvatī River
• Vinaśana tīrtha
• Ṛṣis (sages)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sacred places preserve ethical memory: persistent wrongdoing and hostility are portrayed as causing even a holy river to ‘disappear,’ while righteous conduct is expressed through purification and reverence at tīrthas.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana explains why the site is called Vinaśana, and then notes that Balarāma, continuing his tīrtha-journey, performs ritual purification at the Sarasvatī there.