Shloka 19
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
तथा देवनदी चेयं सर्वतीर्थाभिसम्भूृता । गगनाद् गां गता देवी गड्जा सर्वसरिद्वरा
tathā devanadī ceyaṁ sarvatīrthābhisambhṛtā | gaganād gāṁ gatā devī gaṅgā sarvasaridvarā ||
“তদ্রূপ এই দেবনদী গঙ্গাও এখানে বিরাজমান—যিনি সকল তীর্থের সমাবেশরূপা, সকল স্রোতের মধ্যে শ্রেষ্ঠা, এবং যিনি আকাশলোক থেকে পৃথিবীতে অবতীর্ণা।”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates Gaṅgā as the supreme purifier and a living embodiment of tīrtha—suggesting that sacredness is not merely geographic but is accessed through reverence and dhārmic disposition; approaching such sanctity supports ethical self-purification and restraint.
Maheśvara points out Gaṅgā’s presence, describing her as the foremost river and a repository of all tīrthas, emphasizing that she has descended from heaven to earth and stands here as a sanctifying power within the scene being described.