FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.78.19-20

పృథూదకం బిన్దుసరస్‍త్రితకూపం సుదర్శనమ్ । విశాలం బ్రహ్మతీర్థం చ చక్రం ప్రాచీం సరస్వతీమ్ ॥ ౧౯ ॥ యమునామను యాన్యేవ గఙ్గామను చ భారత । జగామ నైమిషం యత్ర ఋషయ: సత్రమాసతే ॥ ౨౦ ॥
pṛthūdakaṁ bindu-saras
[prithoodakam bindu-saras]
tritakūpaṁ sudarśanam
[tritakoopam sudarshanam]
viśālaṁ brahma-tīrthaṁ ca
[vishaalam brahma-teertham cha]
cakraṁ prācīṁ sarasvatīm
[chakram praacheem sarasvateem]
yamunām anu yāny eva
[yamunaam anu yaany eva]
gaṅgām anu ca bhārata
[gangaam anu cha bhaarata]
jagāma naimiṣaṁ yatra
[jagaama naimisham yatra]
ṛṣayaḥ satram āsate
[rishayah satram aasate]
pṛthu — broad udakam — whose water bindu - saraḥ — the lake Bindu-sarovara trita - kūpam sudarśanam — the pilgrimage places known as Tritakūpa and Sudarśana viśālam brahma - tīrtham ca — Viśāla and Brahma-tīrtha cakram — Cakra-tīrtha prācīm — flowing east sarasvatīm — the Sarasvatī River yamunām — the Yamunā River anu — along yāni — which eva — all gaṅgām — the Ganges anu — along ca — also bhārata — O descendant of Bharata (Parīkṣit Mahārāja) jagāma — He visited naimiṣam — the Naimiṣa forest yatra — where ṛṣayaḥ — great sages satram — an elaborate sacrifice āsate — were performing .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
pṛthūdakaṁ bindu-saras
pṛthu
broad
udakam
whose water
bindu - saraḥ
the lake Bindu-sarovara
tritakūpaṁ sudarśanam
trita - kūpam sudarśanam
the pilgrimage places known as Tritakūpa and Sudarśana
viśālaṁ brahma-tīrthaṁ ca
viśālam brahma - tīrtham ca
Viśāla and Brahma-tīrtha
cakram
Cakra-tīrtha
cakraṁ prācīṁ sarasvatīm
prācīm
flowing east
sarasvatīm
the Sarasvatī River
yamunām anu yāny eva
yamunām
the Yamunā River
anu
along
yāni
which
eva
all
gaṅgām anu ca bhārata
gaṅgām
the Ganges
anu
along
ca
also
bhārata
O descendant of Bharata (Parīkṣit Mahārāja)
jagāma naimiṣaṁ yatra
jagāma
He visited
naimiṣam
the Naimiṣa forest
yatra
where
ṛṣayaḥ satram āsate
ṛṣayaḥ
great sages
satram
an elaborate sacrifice
āsate
were performing .
  • bindu-saraḥ — Lake Bindu-saras
    Bindu (drop) + saras (lake). Site associated with Kapiladeva's birth (SB 3.21-22); a drop fell from Brahmā's tear or Viṣṇu's foot, becoming the lake. Balarāma visits the very tīrtha of His own sāṅkhya-avatāra expansion.
  • cakram — Cakra-tīrtha
    Tīrthas associated with the Sudarśana cakra dot the subcontinent. Each marks a place where the Lord's disc descended for some līlā. Balarāma honors His brother's weapon-tīrthas on the pilgrimage.
  • yamunām — the Yamunā
    Accusative of Yamunā. Kṛṣṇa's beloved river, mother of bhakti-rasa in Gauḍīya theology. Balarāma's pilgrimage circles back to the Yamunā — silently acknowledging Vraja before pressing on to Naimiṣa.
  • naimiṣam — Naimiṣa forest
    From nimiṣa (blink). According to Brahmā, the forest is the place where a wheel of dharma's rim wore out in a blink. The Bhāgavatam's frame-narrative opens here — Balarāma now enters that very ground.
  • satram āsate — were performing a sacrificial session
    Satra (sacrificial session, especially long ones) + āsate (3pl present of √ās, to sit). The ṛṣis are in sustained yajña, the kind that lasts twelve years. This is the context Balarāma steps into.
Lord Balarāma visited the broad Bindu-saras Lake, Tritakūpa, Sudarśana, Viśāla, Brahma-tīrtha, Cakra-tīrtha and the eastward-flowing Sarasvatī. He also went to all the holy places along the Yamunā and the Ganges, O Bhārata, and then He came to the Naimiṣa forest, where great sages were performing an elaborate sacrifice.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Lord Balarāma visited the broad Bindu-saras Lake, Tritakūpa, Sudarśana, Viśāla, Brahma-tīrtha, Cakra-tīrtha and the eastward-flowing Sarasvatī. He also went to all the holy places along the Yamunā and the Ganges, O Bhārata, and then He came to the Naimiṣa forest, where great sages were performing an elaborate sacrifice.
Commentary

Cakram here refers to Cakra tirtha. He went to the holy places along the Yamuna and Ganga.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Pṛthūdaka is near Kurukṣetra, where Pṛthu performed a hundred horse sacrifices. Bindu-saras is the hermitage of Kardama, east of Siddhapura in Gujarat. Tṛta was the brother of Eka and Dvita. Cheated by his brothers while they were herding cows, he went first and, in fear of a wolf he fell in a well and was lifted out by Soma after worshipping devatās. Tritakūpa is on the bank of the Sarasvatī River. Viśālā refers to Āvantī or holy place on the Svarasvatī River. Another version has Viśālam, also described as a special place on the Sarasvatī River. Brahma-tīrtha is between Kanyā-tīrtha and Soma-tīrtha. It is also called Kalpa-tīrtha in Mahābhārata, āranyaka-parva after describing Kanyā-tīrtha: tato gacchen naravyāghra brahmaṇaḥ sthānam uttamam tatra varṇāvaraḥ snātvā brāhmaṇyaṁ labhate naraḥ The tiger among men should go to the best place of Brahmā. The person of lowest varṇa, bathing there, becomes a brāhmaṇa. Soma-tīrtha is also described in that text. He went to Cakra-tīrtha and the east flowing Sarasvatī. The verb yayau is understood from the previous verse. Sometimes he went to the places in order of the path he took. Sometimes, because of the greatness of the place, those places are mentioned out of order. The verses do not list the places in the order that he went, but simply indicate those places to which he went. Śukadeva calls out of Parīkṣit in amazement at Balarāma’s going to all the holy places so quickly or he addresses him in order alert him to another goal at Naimikṣetra.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)
Related verses

Balarāma walks the map of Bhārata-varṣa like one reading a long śloka — Bindu-saras, Tritakūpa, Sudarśana, Viśāla, Brahma-tīrtha, Cakra-tīrtha, the Sarasvatī, the Yamunā, the Ganges, and finally Naimiṣa. Each tīrtha is a syllable; the whole circumambulation is the verse the Lord composes with His feet.

Naimiṣa, where the Bhāgavatam is spoken

Naimiṣa-āraṇya is the same forest where Sūta Gosvāmī later recounts the Bhāgavatam to Śaunaka and the ṛṣis (SB 1.1). The sūta of that recitation is Romaharṣaṇa's son Ugraśravā — the very son the present chapter will install as Purāṇa-speaker after Balarāma's act.

So Balarāma's arrival here is not random tīrtha-visit. He is, in effect, arranging the future seat from which His own brother's pastimes will be sung. The Bhāgavatam's own birthplace is being prepared inside the Bhāgavatam.

📝 My note

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