Adhyaya 57 — The Ninefold Divisions of Bharata: Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples
कृपा पलाशिनी चैव शुक्तिमत्प्रभवाः स्मृताः ।
सर्वाः पुण्याः सरस्वत्यः सर्वा गङ्गाः समुद्रगाः ॥
kṛpā palāśinī caiva śuktimatprabhavāḥ smṛtāḥ /
sarvāḥ puṇyāḥ sarasvatyaḥ sarvā gaṅgāḥ samudragāḥ //
शुक्तिमतः सम्भवेते स्म कृपा पलाशिनी च; सर्वा एता नद्यः पुण्याः—प्रत्येका सरस्वती, प्रत्येका गङ्गा—समुद्रं प्रति प्रवहन्ति।
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A strong egalitarian tīrtha principle: every river can be approached with the same reverence as Gaṅgā or Sarasvatī, encouraging universal respect for water-bodies and discouraging neglect of ‘minor’ rivers.
Not a core lakṣaṇa; it is dharma-supportive tīrtha praise embedded within geographical description.
Declaring all rivers as Gaṅgā/Sarasvatī suggests a non-dual sacrality: the one purifying principle appears in many forms, all moving toward the ocean—an image of return to the Absolute.