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 |
圣摩醯首罗说道：“毗婆沙河、毗多斯塔河、旃陀罗婆伽河、伊罗伐底河、设多陀卢河、提毗迦河、信度河、拘尸吉河与瞿多弥河——以及亚穆那河、那尔摩达河、迦维梨河（下流归海者）——皆在此处。诸河之中，萨拉斯瓦蒂最为卓绝，圣水熠熠，并被传说与大海相会。此等皆被视为万流之首。”
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.