Shloka 18
Description of the Origin of the Cosmic Egg (Brahmāṇḍa) and the Ocean as King of Tīrthas
भूतले यानि तीर्थानि सरितश्च सरांसि च । विशंति सागरे तानि तेन वै श्रेष्ठतां गतः ॥ १८ ॥
bhūtale yāni tīrthāni saritaśca sarāṃsi ca | viśaṃti sāgare tāni tena vai śreṣṭhatāṃ gataḥ || 18 ||
大地上一切圣渡口，以及诸河诸湖，终归汇入大海；因此大海确已得至尊胜之位。
Narada (teaching in a tirtha-mahatmya discourse)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It presents a sacred-geography principle: since all terrestrial tirthas, rivers, and lakes culminate in the ocean, the ocean is portrayed as the integrative, superior receptacle of their sanctity.
By analogy, it suggests that just as all waters merge into the ocean, diverse devotional acts and pilgrimages find fulfillment when gathered into a single, higher spiritual culmination—often framed in the Purana as devotion directed toward the Supreme.
Primarily none of the technical Vedangas are taught directly; the verse instead supports tirtha-dharma and pilgrimage logic (how sacred waters are hierarchically understood in ritual and mahatmya literature).