Shloka 18
Chapter 2: Sudarśana Upākhyāna — Atithi-Dharma and the Conquest of Mṛtyu
Gṛhastha-Vrata
त॑ नर्मदा देवनदी पुण्या शीतजला शिवा । चकमे पुरुषव्याप्रं स्वेन भावेन भारत,भारत! एक समय शीतल जलवाली पवित्र एवं कल्याणमयी देवनदी नर्मदा उस पुरुषसिंहको सम्पूर्ण हृदयसे चाहने लगी और उसकी पत्नी बन गयी
tāṁ narmadā devanadī puṇyā śītajalā śivā | cakame puruṣavyāghraṁ svena bhāvena bhārata ||
Sinabi ni Bhishma: “Ang Narmadā—banal, may malamig na tubig, mapalad, at iginagalang bilang isang ilog na maka-diyos—ayon sa sariling likas na pagkatao at sa buong pusong pag-ibig, ay naghangad sa ‘tigre sa mga tao,’ O Bhārata, at sa paglipas ng panahon ay tinanggap siya bilang asawa. Ipinakikita ng tagpong ito na ang ilog ay hindi lamang pook, kundi isang sagradong kapangyarihang mapagkalinga; at ang pag-iisang-dibdib nito sa karapat-dapat na lalaki ay inilalarawang isang bigkis na itinadhana at naaayon sa dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents sacred nature (a holy river) as an active moral-spiritual presence: purity, auspiciousness, and divine grace are depicted as seeking union with human excellence. It implies that worthiness and dharmic stature attract beneficent forces, and that sacred places are not merely physical but ethically charged realities.
Bhīṣma narrates that the divine river Narmadā, described as holy and cool-watered, becomes enamored of a great man (puruṣavyāghra) and, following her own nature and affection, takes him as her husband.