यथैव वर्षतो धारा यथा वा दिवि तारकाः । गंगायां सिकता यद्वत्संख्यया परिवर्जिताः
yathaiva varṣato dhārā yathā vā divi tārakāḥ | gaṃgāyāṃ sikatā yadvatsaṃkhyayā parivarjitāḥ
Assim como as correntes da chuva que cai, como as estrelas no céu, como os grãos de areia no Gaṅgā, além de toda contagem—assim também são inumeráveis.
Sūta
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (invoked as exemplar)
Type: river
Scene: A cosmic tableau: rain-streams falling in countless threads, a star-filled sky, and the Gaṅgā’s shore with endless sand—visualizing ‘beyond counting’.
Purāṇic māhātmyas use cosmic and sacred-natural imagery to convey immeasurable scale—of merit, beings, or qualities—beyond ordinary counting.
Gaṅgā is invoked as the benchmark of sacred vastness; the chapter’s main tīrtha remains the narrative focus, with Gaṅgā used as a revered comparison.
None explicitly; the verse is a poetic comparison emphasizing innumerability.