Shloka 24
वारुणी सभा — Varuṇa’s Divine Assembly
Nārada’s Description
सरित: सर्वतश्नान्यास्तीर्थानि च सरांसि च | कूृपाश्न सप्रस्रवणा देहवन्तो युधिष्ठिर
saritaḥ sarvataḥ snānyās tīrthāni ca sarāṃsi ca | kūpāś ca sa-prasravaṇā dehavantō yudhiṣṭhira upāsate mahātmānaṃ sarve jalacarās tathā ||
那罗陀说道：“尤提施提罗啊，一切可供沐浴的河流，一切圣渡处（tīrtha）与一切湖泊；诸井与诸泉，连同其涌流的出水口——这一切仿佛具足形体，皆礼敬大心者伐楼那（Varuṇa）。同样，凡在水中游动的众生，也都向他致敬。”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents water in all its forms—rivers, sacred fords, lakes, wells, and springs—as participating in reverence toward Varuṇa, the deity associated with waters and cosmic order. Ethically, it frames nature as aligned with dharmic order: purity, restraint, and reverence are not merely human duties but are mirrored by the world’s sacred structures.
Nārada addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and describes how all water-sources and aquatic beings, assuming their own embodied forms, worship the great-souled Varuṇa. The statement functions as a praise of Varuṇa’s sovereignty over waters and a sacralization of tīrthas and bathing-places within the epic’s broader discourse on sacred spaces and divine governance.