Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2
शालग्रामस्तु गंडक्यां नर्मदायां महेश्वरः । उत्पद्यते स्वयंभूश्च तावेतौ नैव कृत्रिमौ
śālagrāmastu gaṃḍakyāṃ narmadāyāṃ maheśvaraḥ | utpadyate svayaṃbhūśca tāvetau naiva kṛtrimau
গণ্ডকীতে শালগ্রাম প্রকাশিত হন, আর নর্মদায় মহেশ্বর। এই উভয়ই স্বয়ম্ভূ, কখনও মানবকৃত নয়।
Gālava (continuing narration)
Tirtha: Gaṇḍakī–Śālagrāma; Narmadā–Maheśvara
Type: kshetra
Scene: A split-scene: on one side the clear Gaṇḍakī with devotees lifting a dark, spiral-marked Śālagrāma; on the other the broad Narmadā with a radiant svayambhū Śiva-emblem emerging from riverbed, sages offering water and bilva.
FAQs
Certain sacred manifestations are regarded as svayaṃbhū—self-revealed—inviting reverence for holy rivers and divine presence in nature.
Gaṇḍakī (for Śālagrāma) and Narmadā (for Maheśvara) are explicitly glorified as sacred manifestation sites.
No explicit rite is stated; the verse establishes the non-artificial, self-manifest sanctity of these worship-objects and rivers.