Shloka 56
Bhāratavarṣa–Navabheda-Vyavasthā
The Nine Divisions of Bhāratavarṣa and Its Sacred Geography
अन्यास्सहस्रशस्तत्र क्षुद्रनद्यो महामुने । महीधरास्तथा संति शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः
anyāssahasraśastatra kṣudranadyo mahāmune | mahīdharāstathā saṃti śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ
O great sage, there too are thousands upon thousands of lesser rivers; and likewise there are mountains—by the hundreds and again by the thousands.
Suta Goswami
FAQs
By describing innumerable rivers and mountains, the Purana highlights the immensity of creation (pāśa) and encourages the seeker to turn from mere enumeration of the world toward Pati—Lord Shiva—who alone grants liberation beyond all finite forms.
The vast landscape of rivers and mountains serves as a backdrop to sacred places where Saguna Shiva is approached through Linga worship; amid countless natural forms, the Linga functions as a focused, grace-filled support for devotion and inward contemplation.
A practical takeaway is tīrtha-smaraṇa (recollection of holy places) joined with japa of the Panchakshara—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—to redirect the mind from the multiplicity of the world to single-pointed devotion to Shiva.