Shloka 20
Gālava’s Eastern Ascent with Garuḍa; Counsel on Kāla and Upāya (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ११०)
ऋते नारायण देवं नरं वा जिष्णुमव्ययम् । अत्र कैलासमित्युक्त स्थानमैलविलस्य तत्,द्विजश्रेष्ठ! मनुष्य ज्यों-ज्यों गंगामहाद्वारसे आगे बढ़ता है, वैसे-ही-वैसे वहाँकी हिमराशिमें गलता जाता है। विप्रवर गालव! साक्षात् भगवान् नारायण तथा विजयशील अविनाशी महात्मा नरको छोड़कर दूसरा कोई मनुष्य पहले कभी गंगामहाद्वारसे आगे नहीं गया है। इसी दिशामें कैलासपर्वत है, जो कुबेरका स्थान बताया गया है
ṛte nārāyaṇa-devaṃ naraṃ vā jiṣṇum avyayam | atra kailāsam ity uktaṃ sthānam ailavilasya tat, dvijaśreṣṭha |
Yuparṇa said: “Except for the divine Nārāyaṇa and for Nara—Jishṇu, the ever-victorious and imperishable one—no human being has ever gone beyond the Great Gate of the Gaṅgā. In this very direction lies the mountain called Kailāsa, declared to be the abode of Ailavila (Kubera), O best of twice-born.”
युपर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage stresses the extraordinary, near-inaccessible sanctity of the Himalayan sacred region: ordinary human effort has limits, and only beings of divine stature (Nārāyaṇa and Nara/Jishṇu) can pass beyond certain cosmic thresholds. It frames spiritual geography as governed by merit and divine nature, not mere physical endurance.
Yuparṇa describes the route beyond the Gaṅgā’s ‘Great Gate’ and identifies Kailāsa in that direction as Kubera’s abode. He emphasizes that no human has previously gone beyond that point, except Nārāyaṇa and Nara (Jishṇu), underscoring the peril and sanctity of the region while addressing the brāhmaṇa Gālava.