Shloka 19
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
तथा देवनदी चेयं सर्वतीर्थाभिसम्भूृता । गगनाद् गां गता देवी गड्जा सर्वसरिद्वरा
tathā devanadī ceyaṁ sarvatīrthābhisambhṛtā | gaganād gāṁ gatā devī gaṅgā sarvasaridvarā ||
“तसेच ही देवनदी गंगाही येथे विराजमान आहे—जी सर्व तीर्थांचा संगम मानली जाते, सर्व नद्यांमध्ये श्रेष्ठ आहे, आणि जी आकाशातून पृथ्वीवर अवतरली आहे.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates Gaṅgā as the supreme purifier and a living embodiment of tīrtha—suggesting that sacredness is not merely geographic but is accessed through reverence and dhārmic disposition; approaching such sanctity supports ethical self-purification and restraint.
Maheśvara points out Gaṅgā’s presence, describing her as the foremost river and a repository of all tīrthas, emphasizing that she has descended from heaven to earth and stands here as a sanctifying power within the scene being described.