Shloka 20
विस्तारेण तु राजेन्द्र योजनद्वयमंतरम् । षष्टितीर्थसहस्राणि षष्टिकोट्यस्तथैव च
vistāreṇa tu rājendra yojanadvayamaṃtaram | ṣaṣṭitīrthasahasrāṇi ṣaṣṭikoṭyastathaiva ca
Quanto à extensão, ó rei dos reis, ela abrange um intervalo de duas yojanas; e há sessenta mil tīrthas, e igualmente sessenta crores também.
Unspecified narrator in this excerpt (context needed for exact dialogue attribution, commonly framed as Pulastya speaking to Bhīṣma in the Padma Purāṇa).
Concept: Sacred space is not random; it is structured, expansive, and densely populated with tīrthas—inviting sustained pilgrimage rather than a single act.
Application: Approach pilgrimage systematically: plan parikramā, visit multiple shrines/ghats, and maintain consistent conduct across the whole kṣetra rather than treating it as tourism.
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: mountain
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A bird’s-eye sacred map unfolds like a divine manuscript: the river corridor spans the horizon, while countless tiny tīrtha icons—ghats, lingas, Vishnu footprints, and hermitages—dot both banks. A royal listener stands beside a sage who gestures across the landscape, turning geography into revelation.","primary_figures":["teaching sage (unnamed)","royal listener (rājendra)","tīrtha-devatās (symbolic presences)"],"setting":"Panoramic river-valley and mountain plateau rendered as a sacred cartographic tableau with miniature shrines.","lighting_mood":"golden dawn","color_palette":["parchment-ochre","river turquoise","forest green","vermillion","antique gold"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: a sacred ‘map’ composition with layered registers—river in the center with gold-leaf ripples, rows of miniature shrines and ghats studded with jewel-like accents, sage and king in the foreground with ornate crowns and textiles, rich reds/greens, embossed gold borders emphasizing abundance.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: delicate cartographic panorama with fine-line temples and ghats, cool greens and blues, sage pointing with a lotus-staff, king listening with folded hands, airy perspective and lyrical naturalism, refined facial features and soft shading.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: stylized river band with repeating shrine motifs, bold outlines, patterned hills, sage and king in profile with characteristic large eyes, warm red-yellow-green palette, temple-wall symmetry and iconographic clarity.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: symmetrical river corridor framed by lotus creepers, repeated tīrtha medallions like floral rosettes, peacocks at corners, deep indigo background with gold detailing, devotional textile rhythm suggesting ‘sixty thousand’ by dense ornamentation."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"narrative","suggested_raga":"Bhupali","pace":"moderate-narrative","voice_tone":"authoritative","sound_elements":["page-turning hush","temple bells","distant conch","river murmur"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: योजनद्वयमंतरम् → योजनद्वयम् + अन्तरम्; षष्टिकोṭ्यस्+तथा → षष्टिकोट्यस्तथा (य्-संधि).
FAQs
It presents a sacred landscape measured in yojanas and described through vast enumerations of tīrthas, emphasizing sacred geography through scale and abundance rather than precise cartography.
Large numbers function as a literary device to convey inexhaustible sacredness and spiritual merit associated with pilgrimage networks, highlighting their immeasurable religious significance.
The verse frames pilgrimage as an expansive, richly populated sacred field—encouraging reverence for tīrthas broadly, not merely a single site, and recognizing the tradition’s vast sacred map.