Varaha Purana 86.44: Adhyaya 86, Shloka 44
Description of Śākadvīpa and Kuśadvīpa
Cosmographic Geography
तृतीया पित्रा नाम सैव कृष्णा भण्यते ।
tṛtīyā pitrā nāma saiva kṛṣṇā bhaṇyate
तीसरा नाम पित्रा है। यही नदी कृष्णा भी बुलाई जाती है।
Varāha
Instructional naming of rivers/toponyms to Bhū-devī (didactic mapping of sacred hydrography).
What are the true names and alternate appellations of the sacred rivers in this region/cosmography?
curious, attentive (receiving sacred-geographic knowledge)
Only nominal: the river-name 'Kṛṣṇā' (toponym), not an explicit Kṛṣṇa-avatāra link in this verse.
Nāma (name) preserves sacred memory; multiple names encode layered traditions of place.
When performing tīrtha-yātrā, śrāddha, or snāna, invoke the correct traditional river-names as transmitted by Purāṇic authority.
Varāha Purāṇa, same adhyāya river-sequence: 86.26–86.29 (continuation of enumerated rivers and their alternate names).
FAQs
It provides variant hydronyms (Pitrā/Kṛṣṇā), supporting cross-text comparison with other Purāṇas and regional river traditions.
A river with two names: Pitrā and Kṛṣṇā; this alone is insufficient to equate it confidently with a specific modern river.
No explicit ethical teaching; it is a classificatory statement.
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