Adhyaya 37

Chapter 37, as narrated by Bhāradvāja, presents King Śaṅkha of the Haihaya line as an ideal royal devotee. He practices exclusive devotion to Viṣṇu through constant remembrance, japa, pūjā, and attentive listening to Vaiṣṇava Purāṇic accounts, along with gifts, vows, and great sacrifices performed with proper dakṣiṇā. Yet he grieves that he has not attained Viṣṇu’s direct darśana, taking the delay as the remnant of past obscurations. Keśava then speaks as an unseen voice, declaring Veṅkaṭanāma-adri to be a uniquely beloved abode and setting a term: after sustained tapas there, the Lord will become visible. Śaṅkha installs his son Vajra in governance, journeys to Nārāyaṇagiri, encounters Swāmi-puṣkariṇī, and establishes an ascetic dwelling on its bank. In parallel, Agastya arrives by Brahmā’s command, circumambulates the mountain, visits tīrthas including Skandadhārā, and worships Govinda, yet initially remains without vision. Deva-linked figures—Bṛhaspati, Uśanas, and the Vasu Rājoparicara—convey the directive that Govinda will reveal himself on Veṅkaṭa to both Agastya and Śaṅkha, granting collective darśana to the assembled beings. The chapter closes with Agastya and companions admiring the mountain’s auspicious ecology and reaching Swāmi-puṣkariṇī’s shore, where Śaṅkha receives them with ritual honor and shared kīrtana-centered devotion.