Varaha Purana 82.10: Adhyaya 82, Shloka 10
The Descent of the Rivers: The Sky-Gaṅgā and Her Fourfold Division
यथोद्देशं सा चानेकशतसहस्रपर्वतानां दारयन्ती गां गतेति गङ्गेत्युच्यते अथ गन्धमादनपार्श्वे अमरगण्डिका वर्ण्यते।
yathoddeśaṃ sā cānekśatasahasraparvatānāṃ dārayantī gāṃ gateti gaṅgety ucyate atha gandhamādana-pārśve amaragaṇḍikā varṇyate.
यथोद्देशं सा अनेकशतसहस्रपर्वतान् दारयन्ती भूमिं गच्छति; तस्माद् ‘गङ्गा’ इति (गां गता इति) उच्यते। अथ गन्धमादनपार्श्वे अमरगण्डिका नाम सरित् वर्ण्यते।
Varāha
FAQs
It combines cosmographic narrative with folk-etymology (nirukti-style explanation), illustrating how Purāṇic texts link landscape features to memorable linguistic derivations.
Gandhamādana is a well-known mythic-geographical mountain in Purāṇic and epic traditions; its precise modern identification is debated and often treated as trans-regional or symbolic in cosmographic schemes.
By emphasizing the river’s world-shaping movement through mountains, the passage implicitly frames natural formations as powerful agents within cultural geography, encouraging attentive stewardship of named landscapes.
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