Shloka 33

Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva — Catalogue of Vishnu and Shiva’s Sacred Abodes (Tirtha-Mahatmya within the Pulastya–Narada Frame)

Devanagari script

विश्वामित्रं च गदितं कैलासे वृषभध्वजम् महेशं महिलाशैले कामरूपे शशिप्रभम्

Transliteration

viśvāmitraṃ ca gaditaṃ kailāse vṛṣabhadhvajam maheśaṃ mahilāśaile kāmarūpe śaśiprabham

Translation

کَیلاش پر وہ ‘وِشوَامِتر’ کہے جاتے ہیں؛ مَہِلاشَیل پر ‘وِرِشبھَدھْوَج’ (جس کے علم پر بیل کا نشان ہو)؛ اور کامروپ میں چاندنی سے منور ‘مہیش’ (شَشی پربھ) ہیں۔

Speakers

• Narratorial/compendial voice within the tīrtha-catalogue (speaker not specified in the excerpt)

Primary Deities

• Shiva (Maheśa)

Key Themes

• Localization of Śiva through epithets
• Mountain sacredness (śaila-kṣetra)
• Regional tīrtha identity
• Śiva’s lunar symbolism

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Does “Viśvāmitra on Kailāsa” refer to the sage Viśvāmitra?

In this verse it functions as a nāma of a Śiva manifestation tied to Kailāsa. Purāṇic catalogues often reuse well-known names as epithets for localized forms; without additional narrative markers, it is best read here as a Śiva-name rather than the ṛṣi.

Why emphasize “Vṛṣabhadhvaja” at Mahilāśaila?

The bull-banner epithet foregrounds Śiva’s iconography (Nandin and the bull emblem). Assigning it to a specific mountain anchors that iconographic identity to a pilgrimage landscape, making the site recognizable through a signature name.

What does “Śaśiprabha” add to the identification of Maheśa in Kāmarūpa?

It highlights Śiva’s lunar association (moon on the matted hair), suggesting a particular mode of worship or visual conception at that kṣetra—Maheśa as radiantly moon-like—thereby distinguishing the Kāmarūpa manifestation from others.