Adhyaya 56 — The Descent and Fourfold Course of the Ganga; Jambudvipa’s Varshas and Their Conditions
गत्वा भुवं समासाद्य भद्राश्वाज्जलधिं गता ।
तथैवालकनन्दाख्या दक्षिणे गन्धमादने ॥
gatvā bhuvaṃ samāsādya bhadrāśvājjaladhiṃ gatā /
tathaivālakanandākhyā dakṣiṇe gandhamādane
भूमिं प्राप्य सा भद्राश्वात् समुद्रं जगाम। तथा दक्षिणे गन्धमादनप्रदेशेऽलканन्दा इति शाखा प्रसिद्धा॥
The same sanctifying principle becomes locally present under different names; reverence is due not only to a single famous site but to the sacred networks that sustain worlds.
Sthāna: description of varṣas/regions (e.g., Bhadrāśva) and their waters’ movement to the ocean.
‘Reaching the earth’ suggests descent of higher consciousness into embodied reality; the ocean destination symbolizes re-mergence into the undifferentiated absolute.