Shloka 30
Matsya Purana — Cosmography of Śākadvīpa and Successive Dvīpas: Mountains
प्रथमा सुकुमारीति गङ्गा शिवजला शुभा मुनितप्ता च नाम्नैषा नदी सम्परिकीर्तिता //
prathamā sukumārīti gaṅgā śivajalā śubhā munitaptā ca nāmnaiṣā nadī samparikīrtitā //
This river is first proclaimed as “Sukumārī”; she is also called “Gaṅgā,” “Śiva-jalā” (Śiva’s waters), “Śubhā” (Auspicious), and “Muni-taptā” (hallowed by sages’ austerities)—by these names the river is fully celebrated.
FAQs
This verse does not describe Pralaya; it functions as a tīrtha-mahātmya style praise, listing honored names of a sacred river (especially Gaṅgā) and emphasizing her sanctity.
By highlighting the river’s auspicious, purifying identity (Śubhā, Śiva-jalā, Muni-taptā), it supports the Purāṇic ethic that householders and rulers maintain dharma through tīrtha-related rites—bathing, offerings, and supporting pilgrimage—seen as acts that uphold social and ritual order.
The ritual takeaway is the sanctity of specific river-names used in worship: these epithets can be invoked in snāna (ritual bathing), ācamana, tarpaṇa, and tīrtha-saṅkalpa to frame the rite as contact with “Śiva’s waters” and a river consecrated by sages’ tapas.