Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 26
ततस्तदीरिणं जात॑ समुद्रस्थावसर्पत: । तस्माद् देशान्नदीं चैव प्रोवाचासौ द्विजोत्तम:
tatas tadīriṇaṃ jātaṃ samudrasthāvasarpataḥ | tasmād deśān nadīṃ caiva provācāsau dvijottamaḥ |
继而，大海自旧日海床退去，那一带遂成沙砾荒漠。乌塔提耶——二次生中最尊者——见此土地与其间流淌之萨拉斯瓦蒂河，便对河神女说道：“怯弱的萨拉斯瓦蒂啊，隐而不现，流向荒漠之地。吉祥者啊，你若离弃此处，此国将失其清净。”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links sacred ecology with dharma: a river is not merely water but a carrier of sanctity. When the divine river withdraws (becomes ‘invisible’/subterranean), the land is perceived to lose ritual purity, warning that moral and ritual order depends on honoring and preserving sacred sources.
The sea recedes, leaving a sandy wasteland. In that context, the sage Utathya addresses the Sarasvatī, urging her to become unseen and move into the desert region; he notes that if she abandons the area, the country will become impure.