Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 56, Shloka 1
Adhyaya 56 — The Descent and Fourfold Course of the Ganga; Jambudvipa’s Varshas and Their Conditions
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे भुवनकोशे पञ्चपञ्चाशोऽध्यायः षट्पञ्चाशोऽध्यायः- ५६
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
धराधरां जगद्योनॆः पदं नारायणस्य च ।
ततः प्रवृत्ता या देवी गङ्गा त्रिपथगामिनी ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyapurāṇe bhuvanakośe pañcapañcāśo 'dhyāyaḥ ṣaṭpañcāśo 'dhyāyaḥ- 56
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca
dharādharāṃ jagadyoneḥ padaṃ nārāyaṇasya ca /
tataḥ pravṛttā yā devī gaṅgā tripathagāminī
Mārkaṇḍeya nói: Từ nền tảng cao cả của địa giới—nguồn gốc của thế gian—và từ dấu chân của Nārāyaṇa, dòng Gaṅgā thần thánh đã tuôn xuất, con sông đi theo ba nẻo (thiên giới, nhân gian và địa giới dưới).
FAQs
The Gaṅgā is presented as a divine principle of purification whose origin is traced to the supreme cosmic source (Nārāyaṇa’s ‘pada’). This frames tīrtha and sacred waters as conduits of transcendence, not merely physical geography.
Primarily within ‘Sthāna’ (cosmic geography/placement of worlds and sacred features). It also touches ‘Sarga’ indirectly by referencing cosmic origins, but the dominant function is geographic mapping.
‘Tripathagā’ symbolizes a current of grace moving through three levels of reality—celestial, terrestrial, and subterranean—suggesting that purification and dharma can permeate all planes of existence.