Shloka 306
Adhyāya 6: Pañca-mahābhūta–guṇa-nirdeśa and Sudarśana-dvīpa
Five Elements, Sensory Qualities, and a Cosmographic Island
शतं वर्षसहस्राणां शिरसैव पिनाकधृक् । वह पवित्र कुण्ड स्वयं गंगाजीने ही प्रकट किया है
sañjaya uvāca | śataṁ varṣa-sahasrāṇāṁ śirasāiva pinākadhṛk | vahati pavitraṁ kuṇḍaṁ svayaṁ gaṅgā-jinaṁ hi prakaṭīkṛtam | yāṁ dhārayituṁ parvateṣv api duṣkarāṁ tāṁ gaṅgāṁ pinākadhārī bhagavān śivaḥ lakṣaṁ varṣāṇi mastake eva dhārayām āsa |
Wika ni Sañjaya: “Ang Panginoong may tangan sa busog na Pināka—si Śiva—ay nagdala sa mismong ulo niya sa loob ng isang daang libong taon ng banal na lawa, ang sagradong pagpapakita ng Gaṅgā, na kumikislap na parang karagatan dahil sa di-masukat na lalim ng tubig. Ang Gaṅgā na ang bigat ay halos di kayanin kahit ng mga bundok, ay pinasan ng Diyos na may Pināka sa kanyang ulo sa loob ng ganap na isang daang libong taon—larawan ng banal na pagpipigil at kapangyarihang mapagkalinga na sumasalo sa maaaring lumunod sa sanlibutan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights divine restraint and protective strength: Śiva contains and bears the overwhelming force of the Gaṅgā for the welfare of the world, modeling the dharmic ideal of holding great power under control so it becomes purifying rather than destructive.
Sanjaya describes Śiva as Pināka-bearer who sustained the manifested Gaṅgā—likened to an oceanic, unfathomable flood—in a sacred basin and upon his head for a vast span of time, emphasizing that what even mountains could not bear was borne by Śiva.