Shloka 39

Prahlada's Tirtha Circuit — Prahlada’s Pilgrimage Circuit: Tirtha-Mahatmya from Naimisha to Rudrakoti and Shalagrama

Devanagari script

ततस्ते मुनयः प्रीताः सर्व एव महेश्वरम् संपूजयन्तस्तस्थुर्वै तीर्थं कृत्वा पृथक् पृथक् इत्येवं रुद्रकोटीति नाम्ना शंभुरजायत

Transliteration

tataste munayaḥ prītāḥ sarva eva maheśvaram saṃpūjayantastasthurvai tīrthaṃ kṛtvā pṛthak pṛthak ityevaṃ rudrakoṭīti nāmnā śaṃbhurajāyata

Translation

അപ്പോൾ എല്ലാ മുനിമാരും സന്തോഷത്തോടെ മഹേശ്വരനെ പൂജിച്ചു നിന്നു; ഓരോരുത്തരും വേറേവേറെ ഒരു തീർത്ഥം സ്ഥാപിച്ചു. ഇങ്ങനെ ശംഭു ‘രുദ്രകോടി’ എന്ന നാമത്തിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധനായി।

Speakers

• Narrator to the addressed sage (muni)
• concluding the etiological naming of the tīrtha and Śiva’s epithet.

Primary Deities

• Śiva (Maheśvara/Śambhu/Rudra)

Key Themes

• Naming of a tīrtha (toponymic etiology)
• Collective worship and consecration
• Śiva’s manifoldness (Rudra-koṭi)
• Pilgrimage practice (tīrtha-karaṇa)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Is ‘tīrthaṃ kṛtvā’ describing the creation of a new place or the consecration of an existing spot?

In Purāṇic idiom it can mean consecration: the sages ritually ‘make’ a tīrtha by establishing worship, bathing rules, and memorializing the divine event. The text’s ‘pṛthak pṛthak’ suggests multiple consecrated points, later unified in reputation as Rudrakoṭi.

Why does the name ‘Rudrakoṭi’ apply to Śiva (Śambhu) rather than only to the place?

Tīrtha-māhātmya often links place-name and deity-epithet: the site is sacred because of a specific manifestation, and the manifestation is remembered through the site’s name. Here, Śiva’s ‘crore-formed’ appearance becomes the semantic basis for both deity-title and tīrtha identity.

What is the practical implication for pilgrims implied by this verse?

The verse encodes a ritual memory: worship of Maheśvara at Rudrakoṭi is framed as especially efficacious because it commemorates the moment Śiva compassionately granted darśana to innumerable sages and thereby sanctified multiple tīrtha-points.