Shloka 43
Ikṣvāku-vaṃśa-prasaṅgaḥ — Genealogy of the Ikṣvāku Line and Exempla of Royal Dharma
लेभे प्रसेनजिद्भार्यां गौरीं नाम पतिव्रताम् । अभिशप्ता तु सा भर्त्रा नदी सा बाहुदा कृता
lebhe prasenajidbhāryāṃ gaurīṃ nāma pativratām | abhiśaptā tu sā bhartrā nadī sā bāhudā kṛtā
He took as his wife Gaurī, a devoted and faithful spouse. But when she was cursed by her husband, she was transformed into a river known as Bāhudā.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga account; the river-transformation motif functions as aetiology (nadi-nāma-nirukti) and karmic consequence narrative.
Significance: Such river-origin stories typically sacralize a watercourse for snāna and śrāddha/puṇya; the verse itself does not specify a tīrtha-phala.
Shakti Form: Gaurī
Role: nurturing
FAQs
The verse highlights karmic consequence and transformation: even a pativratā may undergo suffering due to relational actions and speech, yet that suffering can become sanctified as sacred geography, pointing to Shiva’s governance of karma and purification.
In the Shiva Purana, such origin-stories of rivers and tīrthas typically frame places where Saguna Shiva is worshiped through linga-arcana, bathing, and vows—showing how worldly events become supports for devotion and grace-oriented practice.
A practical takeaway is tīrtha-snāna with Shiva-smaraṇa: bathe (or mentally offer purified water), repeat the Panchakshara “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and dedicate the act for inner cleansing and restraint of harsh speech that creates bondage.