Devi Bhagavatam 9.13.8 — Devotion & Grace of the Goddess, Skandha 9, Adhyaya 13, Shloka 8

Ganga Upakhyana: The Origin of Goddess Ganga

Devanagari script

द्रवाधिष्ठातृदेवी या रूपेणाप्रतिमा भुवि । नवयौवनसम्पन्ना सर्वाभरणभूषिता

Transliteration

dravādhiṣṭhātṛdevī yā rūpeṇāpratimā bhuvi . navayauvanasampannā sarvābharaṇabhūṣitā

Translation

သူမသည် အရည်အားလုံးကို အစိုးရသော နတ်သမီးဖြစ်ပြီး စကြဝဠာတွင် အလှတရား၌ အနှိုင်းမဲ့သူဖြစ်သည်။ သူမသည် လန်းဆန်းသော ပျိုမြစ်ခြင်းနှင့် ပြည့်စုံကာ ရတနာမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ဆင်ယင်ထားသည်။

Word by Word

• drava-adhiṣṭhātṛ-devī: the presiding deity of liquid
• drava-adhiṣṭhātṛ-devī: kartā
• Type: Noun
• Root: dravādhiṣṭhātṛdevī
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

• yā: who
• yā: kartā
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: yad
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

• rūpeṇa: by beauty/form
• rūpeṇa: karaṇa
• Type: Noun
• Root: rūpa
• Form: neuter, instrumental, singular

• apratimā: incomparable
• apratimā: viśeṣaṇa
• Type: Adjective
• Root: apratima
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

• bhuvi: on earth
• bhuvi: adhikaraṇa
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhū
• Form: feminine, locative, singular

• nava-yauvana-sampannā: endowed with fresh youth
• nava-yauvana-sampannā: viśeṣaṇa
• Type: Adjective
• Root: navayauvanasampannā
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

• sarva-ābharaṇa-bhūṣitā: adorned with all ornaments
• sarva-ābharaṇa-bhūṣitā: viśeṣaṇa
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarvābharaṇabhūṣitā
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

Speaker

Narayana

Shakti Theology

Devi Form: Ganga

Mahavidya Connection: null

Shakti Manifestation: Presiding deity of liquids (Dravadhishtatri)

Tattva Discussed: Prakriti

Devi Narrative

Demon Antagonist: null

Devi Weapon Used: null

Narrative Source: null

Story Arc Position: exposition

Tantra Dimension

Mantra Referenced: null

Yantra Referenced: null

Kundalini Element: null

Chakra Referenced: null

Tantric Practice Type: Dhyana

Bhakti & Stuti

Stuti Type: Dhyanam

Recitation Occasion: Daily

Phala Shruti: null

Devotee Offering Stuti: Narayana

Cosmic Feminine

Maya Aspect: null

Creation Role: Presiding over the water element (Ap)

Shakti Philosophy: Animistic/Pantheistic manifestation of Shakti

Relation To Brahman: Form of Brahman as water

Vyasa-Janamejaya Dialogue

Narrator: Narayana

Listener: Narada

Dialogue Context: Describing the anthropomorphic form of Ganga

Narrative Layer: embedded

Ritual Context

Text: Meditational verse (Dhyana) for visualizing Goddess Ganga.

Philosophical Significance

Text: Personifies the element of water (Ap) as a youthful, beautiful Goddess, highlighting the sacredness and life-giving beauty of water.

Characters & Entities

• Ganga

FAQs

What is Ganga the presiding deity of?

Ganga is described as the presiding deity of all liquids (Drava-adhishtatri-devi).

How is her appearance described?

She is described as having unmatched beauty, filled with fresh youth, and fully adorned with ornaments.