Shloka 13

Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva — Catalogue of Vishnu and Shiva’s Sacred Abodes (Tirtha-Mahatmya within the Pulastya–Narada Frame)

Devanagari script

अवनतिविषये विष्णुं निषधेष्वमरेश्वरम् पाञ्चालिकं च ब्रह्मर्षे पाञ्चालेषु व्यवस्थितम्

Transliteration

avanativiṣaye viṣṇuṃ niṣadheṣvamareśvaram pāñcālikaṃ ca brahmarṣe pāñcāleṣu vyavasthitam

Translation

ਕੇਸ਼ਵ ਦੇ ਸਨਮੁਖ ਜਾ ਕੇ, ‘ਸਿਤੋਦਕ’ ਨਾਮਕ ਤੀਰਥ ਦੇ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਜਲ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਨਾਨ ਕਰਕੇ ਉਹ ਸ਼ਾਂਤ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ; ਫਿਰ ਪਾਪਵਸ਼ ਪ੍ਰੇਰਿਤ ਰੁਦ੍ਰ ਵੀ ਉੱਥੇ ਉਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਨ (ਸ਼ਾਂਤ) ਹੋਇਆ।

Word by Word

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Speakers

• Contextual narrator within the Adhyāya’s catalogue addressing a ‘brahmarṣi’ (the listener is explicitly addressed as brahmarṣi).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Shiva

Key Themes

• Regionalization of worship (deities as janapada-pālas)
• Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava co-presence in a single itinerary
• Pilgrimage cartography of North/Central India

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

How can the same catalogue place both Viṣṇu and Amareśvara (a Śiva-title) in adjacent lines?

Such lists are intentionally ecumenical: the Purāṇa maps a shared sacred landscape where Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva sites coexist, encouraging comprehensive tīrtha-yātrā rather than sectarian exclusivity.

What is ‘Niṣadha’ here—people, region, or mountain?

In Purāṇic usage, Niṣadha can denote a janapada/people and also a cosmographic mountain. The locative plural ‘niṣadheṣu’ favors a territorial/people sense (‘in the Niṣadha lands’), though the tradition often allows overlap between ethnographic and topographic referents.

Who is ‘Pāñcālika’?

It is best read as a regional shrine-epithet—‘the (deity) of the Pāñcālas’—indicating a locally established form worshipped in Pāñcāla country, parallel to how other verses tie specific divine names to specific ranges or districts.