Shloka 18
Description of the Origin of the Cosmic Egg (Brahmāṇḍa) and the Ocean as King of Tīrthas
भूतले यानि तीर्थानि सरितश्च सरांसि च । विशंति सागरे तानि तेन वै श्रेष्ठतां गतः ॥ १८ ॥
bhūtale yāni tīrthāni saritaśca sarāṃsi ca | viśaṃti sāgare tāni tena vai śreṣṭhatāṃ gataḥ || 18 ||
Alle Tīrthas auf Erden, ebenso Flüsse und Seen, münden schließlich in den Ozean; darum hat der Ozean wahrlich den Vorrang erlangt.
Narada (teaching in a tirtha-mahatmya discourse)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It presents a sacred-geography principle: since all terrestrial tirthas, rivers, and lakes culminate in the ocean, the ocean is portrayed as the integrative, superior receptacle of their sanctity.
By analogy, it suggests that just as all waters merge into the ocean, diverse devotional acts and pilgrimages find fulfillment when gathered into a single, higher spiritual culmination—often framed in the Purana as devotion directed toward the Supreme.
Primarily none of the technical Vedangas are taught directly; the verse instead supports tirtha-dharma and pilgrimage logic (how sacred waters are hierarchically understood in ritual and mahatmya literature).