Shloka 123

Devanagari script

पुण्यतीर्थानुसंयानं बश्रुवाहनजन्म च । तत्रैव मोक्षयामास पठ्च सो5प्सरस: शुभा:,इसके बाद अर्जुनने पवित्र तीर्थोकी यात्रा की है। इसी समय चित्रांगदाके गर्भसे बभ्रुवाहनका जन्म हुआ है और इसी यात्रामें उन्होंने पाँच शुभ अप्सराओंको मुक्तिदान किया, जो एक तपस्वी ब्राह्मणके शापसे ग्राह हो गयी थीं। फिर प्रभासतीर्थमें श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनके मिलनका वर्णन है

Transliteration

puṇyatīrthānusaṃyānaṃ babhruvāhanajanma ca | tatraiva mokṣayāmāsa pañca so 'psarāḥ śubhāḥ |

Translation

相传阿周那踏上了前往诸圣地渡口（tīrtha）的朝圣之旅。就在同一时期，巴布鲁瓦哈那（Babhruvāhana）由奇特兰伽达（Citrāṅgadā）怀胎而生。又在这趟旅途中，阿周那赐予五位吉祥天女（apsaras）解脱；她们因一位苦行婆罗门的诅咒而困于鳄鱼之形——此事昭示：亲近达摩并以慈悲行事，足以消弭过失之果，使众生复归其本然之位。

Word by Word

पुण्यholy, meritorious

तीर्थpilgrimage places, sacred fords

अनुसंयानम्following/continuous journey, pilgrimage-tour

बभ्रुवाहनof Babhruvāhana

जन्मbirth

चand

तत्रthere

एवindeed, just

मोक्षयामासreleased, set free

पञ्चfive

सःhe

अप्सरसःapsarases (celestial nymphs)

शुभाःauspicious, fair

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Babhruvāhana

Citrāṅgadā

five apsarases

puṇya-tīrthas (sacred pilgrimage places)

a brāhmaṇa ascetic (as the curser, implied by the narrative gloss)

graha/crocodile form (as the cursed state, per the narrative gloss)

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?

The passage highlights the purifying power of tīrtha-yātrā and the ethical force of compassionate intervention: even beings bound by a curse can be restored when dharma is upheld and mercy is extended.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna is described as traveling on pilgrimage; during this time Babhruvāhana is born from Citrāṅgadā, and Arjuna frees five apsarases who had been transformed and bound by a brāhmaṇa’s curse.