Shloka 60
तुलसी-शङ्खचूडोपाख्यानम् — Viṣṇu’s Disguise and the Tulasī Episode
Prelude to Śaṅkhacūḍa’s Fall
प्रजगाम तया सार्द्धं वैकुंठं कमलापतिः । सद्यस्तद्देहजाता च बभूव गंडकी नदी
prajagāma tayā sārddhaṃ vaikuṃṭhaṃ kamalāpatiḥ | sadyastaddehajātā ca babhūva gaṃḍakī nadī
Then Kamalāpati (Lord Viṣṇu) went together with her to Vaikuṇṭha; and at once, from that very body, the Gaṇḍakī river came into being.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Sthala Purana: Etiological link: from the cast-off body arises the Gaṇḍakī, later famed for producing śālagrāma-śilā (Viṣṇu emblem). The verse situates a Vaiṣṇava tīrtha within a Śaiva narrative frame, implying Śiva’s overarching dispensation behind tīrtha-creation.
Significance: Bathing/ritual contact with Gaṇḍakī is held to confer puṇya; later tradition values Gaṇḍakī for śālagrāma worship and tīrtha-snāna.
Shakti Form: Lalitā
Role: creative
FAQs
It sanctifies the Gaṇḍakī as a divinely manifested tīrtha, teaching that sacred waters arise by higher ordinance to purify beings and support dharma—an aid on the soul’s journey toward liberation under the supreme governance of Pati (Śiva).
Though Viṣṇu is named, the Shiva Purana frames tīrthas as part of the sacred ecology that supports Śaiva sādhanā—pilgrimage, purity, and devotion that culminate in Linga worship and grace from Saguna Śiva.
Tīrtha-snāna (ritual bathing) with Śiva-smaraṇa—mentally repeating the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and offering water (jala) to a Śiva-liṅga as a purification-oriented bhakti practice.