Shloka 46
गौतमस्य शिवदर्शनं पापक्षयवचनं च | Gautama’s Vision of Śiva and the Teaching on Sin and Purification
अनुग्रहाय लोकानामस्माकं प्रियकाम्यया । स्थातव्यं शंकरेणापि त्वया चैव सरिद्वरे
anugrahāya lokānāmasmākaṃ priyakāmyayā | sthātavyaṃ śaṃkareṇāpi tvayā caiva saridvare
For the sake of showing grace to the worlds—and to fulfill what is dear to us—you, O best of rivers, should remain here; and Śaṅkara (Lord Śiva) too should abide here along with you.
Devas/assembled divine beings (requesting the river and Shiva to remain at the sacred tirtha)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Sthala Purana: A classic kṣetra-pratiṣṭhā motif: devas request the river and Śaṅkara to 'remain here' so the world may receive ongoing anugraha. This is the narrative seed for a permanent sacred geography—tīrtha + Śiva’s abiding presence—yielding recurring pilgrimage merit.
Significance: Establishes the tīrtha as a stable locus of grace: continual access to snāna and Śiva-darśana for loka-kalyāṇa.
Role: nurturing
FAQs
It highlights anugraha (Śiva’s grace) as the purpose of sacred geography: when Śiva and a holy river abide at a tirtha, the world gains an accessible doorway to purification, devotion, and liberation-oriented merit.
By asking Śaṅkara to ‘remain’ at the site, the verse supports Saguna worship—Śiva’s gracious presence becomes approachable through a fixed holy place, commonly expressed as a Jyotirlinga/linga-centered shrine linked with a sanctifying river.
Pilgrimage with river-snāna (sacred bath) followed by linga-pūjā—offering water, repeating the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), and maintaining bhakti as a means to receive Śiva’s anugraha.