Varaha Purana 71.43: Adhyaya 71, Shloka 43
Vision of the Trimūrti in Rudra, the Gautama Curse, the Manifestation of the Godāvarī, and the Niḥśvāsa-saṃhitā Account
अस्याश्च गौणं नामेह नदी गोदावरीति च । गौर्दत्ता वरदानाच्च भवेद् गोदावरी नदी ॥ ७१.४३ ॥
asyāś ca gauṇaṃ nāmeha nadī godāvarīti ca | gaurdattā varadānāc ca bhaved godāvarī nadī || 71.43 ||
ഇവിടെ ഈ നദിയുടെ ഗൗണ (പ്രചലിത) നാമം ‘ഗോദാവരി’ ആകുന്നു; ‘ഗോ’ (പശു) വഴി ദത്തമായതും വരദാനവും കാരണം ഈ നദി ഗോദാവരി എന്ന പേരിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധമായി।
Varāha (default dialogue framework; speaker not explicit in excerpt)
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic etymology for the river-name Godāvarī, illustrating how sacred geography is explained through naming traditions (nāma-nirukti) within Purāṇic literature.
The Godāvarī River (modern: Godavari), a major river of the Deccan plateau in India, frequently treated as a cultural-heritage landscape in Sanskrit sources.
The verse primarily functions as an explanatory note on nomenclature rather than a direct ethical injunction; indirectly, it frames rivers as culturally significant entities whose names are tied to acts of benefaction (dāna/vara-dāna).
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