Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 56, Shloka 9
Adhyaya 56 — The Descent and Fourfold Course of the Ganga; Jambudvipa’s Varshas and Their Conditions
आसाद्य शैलराजानं रम्यं हि शिखरन्तथा ।
तस्माच्च पर्वतान् सर्वान् दक्षिणोपक्रमोदितान् ॥
āsādya śailarājānaṃ ramyaṃ hi śikharantathā /
tasmācca parvatān sarvān dakṣiṇopakramoditān
Reaching the king of mountains and his lovely peak, she then passed from there over all the mountains that are described as arising in the southern sequence.
FAQs
The sacred is portrayed as structured and traversable: spiritual geography is ordered (krama), encouraging a worldview where cosmos and dharma are intelligible rather than chaotic.
Sthāna: enumeration/ordering of mountains and routes.
The ‘southern progression’ can symbolize descent into denser experience; the river’s continued purity implies that sanctity can persist through all gradations of manifestation.