Shloka 18
Kuru's Consecration — Kuru’s Consecration and the Sanctification of Samantapañcaka (Kurukshetra)
देवदेव उवाच/ वेदयो लोकनाथस्य पञ्च धर्मस्य सेतवः यासु यष्टं सुरेशेन लोकनाथेन शंभुना
devadeva uvāca/ vedayo lokanāthasya pañca dharmasya setavaḥ yāsu yaṣṭaṃ sureśena lokanāthena śaṃbhunā
众神之主说道：“世间之主的五座祭坛（vedi）乃是支撑达摩的五道桥梁；在其上，世间之主、诸天之王商婆（Śaṃbhu）曾举行祭祀。”
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FAQs
Dharma is upheld by concrete practices (yajña, worship) and by exemplars: even the highest deity (here Śaṃbhu) is portrayed as honoring sacrificial order, teaching that authority strengthens dharma by participating in it.
As with the surrounding kṣetra material, it is not a direct pancalakṣaṇa item; it is a dharma-ritual and tīrtha-mahātmya passage embedded in narrative discourse (ākhyāna), supporting the Purāṇa’s broader mandate to teach dharma.
Calling the vedis ‘bridges of dharma’ makes ritual sites into metaphors for passage from disorder to order, and from worldly life to merit/liberation. The mention of Śaṃbhu performing yajña reinforces Purāṇic non-sectarian synthesis: Śiva participates in a Vedic-sacrificial framework often associated with Viṣṇu-centered dharma, signaling complementarity rather than rivalry.