Shloka 10

Devanagari script

नातिदूरं ततो गत्वा नगं तालध्वजो बली,जिनकी ध्वजापर तालका चिह्न सुशोभित होता है, वे बलरामजी उस पर्वतपर थोड़ी ही दूर गये थे कि उनकी दृष्टि एक पुण्यमय उत्तम तीर्थपर पड़ी। वह सरस्वतीकी उत्पत्तिका स्थान प्लक्षप्रख्वण नामक तीर्थ था। उसका दर्शन करके बलरामजीको बड़ा आश्चर्य हुआ

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | nātidūraṃ tato gatvā nagaṃ tāladhvajo balī |

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说：他从那里只行不远，力大无比的婆罗罗摩——其旗帜饰以棕榈树之徽——便到了一座山前。其目光落在一处至为神圣吉祥的圣地（tīrtha）上：那是萨拉斯瓦蒂河的发源处，名为“普拉克沙—普拉斯拉瓦那”（Plakṣa-prasravaṇa）。一见此地，婆罗罗摩心生大惊异，史诗由此彰显对圣地地理的敬畏，以及在战乱之中亦能净化身心的朝圣之力。

Word by Word

नnot

अतिदूरम्too far (a great distance)

ततःfrom there/then

गत्वाhaving gone

नगम्mountain

तालध्वजःhe whose banner is (marked with) a palm-tree (i.e., Balarama)

बलीstrong, mighty

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Balarāma (Tāladhvaja)

mountain (naga)

Sarasvatī

Plakṣa-prasravaṇa tīrtha

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 Mahābhārata’s valuation of tīrtha-yātrā: sacred places are seen as reservoirs of merit and purification, and encountering them evokes reverence and inner transformation even when the broader world is dominated by conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Balarāma travels a short distance, reaches a mountain, and then beholds the holy tīrtha called Plakṣa-prasravaṇa, famed as the source of the Sarasvatī; the sight fills him with astonishment.