Tīrtha-māhātmya and Rudra’s Samanvaya Teaching
Maṅkaṇaka Episode
तीर्थं त्रैयम्बकं नाम सर्वदेवनमस्कृतम् / पूजयित्वा तत्र रुद्रं ज्योतिष्टोमफलं लभेत्
tīrthaṃ traiyambakaṃ nāma sarvadevanamaskṛtam / pūjayitvā tatra rudraṃ jyotiṣṭomaphalaṃ labhet
‘ત્ર્યંબક’ નામનું તીર્થ સર્વ દેવોથી નમસ્કૃત છે. ત્યાં રુદ્રની પૂજા કરવાથી જ્યોતિષ્ટોમ યજ્ઞ સમાન ફળ મળે છે.
Sūta (narrator) conveying the tīrtha-māhātmya in the Kurma Purana’s discourse to the sages
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
Indirectly: it frames liberation-oriented dharma through sacred place and Rudra-upāsanā, implying that devotion to Rudra at a consecrated tīrtha becomes a potent means toward the highest good traditionally linked with realizing the supreme reality.
The verse emphasizes pūjā (ritual worship) as disciplined upāsanā—an applied practice aligned with Purāṇic yoga-dharma—where focused reverence to Rudra at a tīrtha functions like a concentrated sādhanā yielding great spiritual merit.
By presenting Rudra-worship as a central, highly efficacious dharmic act within the Kurma Purana’s narrative world, it supports the text’s inclusive Shaiva-Vaishnava harmony: devotion to Śiva is affirmed within a Purāṇa associated with Viṣṇu (Kūrma).