The Greatness of Gayā
Gayā-Māhātmya
नदीं सरस्वंतीं सृष्ट्वा स्थितो व्याप्तदिगंतरः । भक्ष्यभोज्यफलादींश्च कामधेनूस्तथासृजत् ॥ १५ ॥
nadīṃ sarasvaṃtīṃ sṛṣṭvā sthito vyāptadigaṃtaraḥ | bhakṣyabhojyaphalādīṃśca kāmadhenūstathāsṛjat || 15 ||
سرسوتی ندی کو پیدا کرکے وہ سب سمتوں میں پھیل کر قائم رہا؛ اور کامدھینو کی طرح کھانے پینے کی چیزیں، پکا ہوا کھانا، پھل وغیرہ بھی ظاہر کیے۔
Narada (narrative voice within the Uttara-Bhaga tirtha context; traditionally framed in dialogue with Sanatkumara in the Narada Purana)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
The verse presents Sarasvatī as a divinely established tīrtha and portrays the cosmic giver as all-pervasive and nourishing—linking sacred geography (river) with sustenance and dharmic prosperity.
By depicting the divine as both immanent (pervading all directions) and beneficent (granting nourishment like kāmadhenu), it supports bhakti as trusting remembrance of the Lord’s sustaining grace, especially through reverence to tīrthas.
Indirectly, it supports tīrtha-based ritual practice: auspicious bathing (snāna), offerings (dāna), and observances timed to sacred places—often coordinated with calendrical reckoning (Jyotiṣa) though no single Vedāṅga is explicitly taught in this verse.