The Gaṇḍakī is one of the most sacred rivers of Bhārata. It is honoured as the birthplace of the Śālagrāma stones, the forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu that are not shaped as an image. Brahmā himself made the river from the drops on his own cheeks, out of compassion for the beings of the world, who were full of pāpa.

The Pātāla Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa says that sight of the Gaṇḍakī burns the mental pāpa, touch burns the pāpa of the body, and drinking her water burns the pāpa of speech. Every drop of the Gaṇḍakī holds the merit of bathing at all tīrthas (pilgrimage places) and of doing all yajñas (fire rituals).

Origin of the river

Brahmā, the creator of beings, saw that all the beings of the world were full of pāpa. In his great compassion he made this river from the drops that fell on his own cheeks. Her holy water would destroy the heaped pāpa of all who came to her. She is thus Brahmā’s grace shown to a fallen world.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

Three-fold purifying power

The Gaṇḍakī purifies pāpa on three levels, matching the three ways of acting: mind, body and speech.

Sight (darśana): burns pāpa done through the mind.
Touch (sparśa): burns pāpa done through the body.
Drinking (pāna): burns pāpa done through words.

Those who touch the holy water of the Gaṇḍakī do not enter another womb, even if they have heaped up pāpa. They are freed from the cycle of rebirth.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

Śālagrāma stones

The stones found in the Gaṇḍakī that bear the marks of the cakra (discus) of Bhagavān Vishṇu are declared to be his own divine forms, shown in stone. Śālagrāma stones are among the most sacred objects in Vaishṇava worship. The text says that even a man of wrong conduct, even one who bears the pāpa of brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa), reaches the highest place when he drinks the water that has flowed over a Śālagrāma stone.

The Dvāravatī cakra and the Gaṇḍakī Śālagrāma together destroy, in a single moment, the pāpa gathered over a hundred births.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

Rules for the pūjā of a Śālagrāma

A person who does pūjā (worship) of a Śālagrāma stone must have these qualities:

good conduct, and freedom from religious pretence and greed
no longing for another man’s wife or another man’s wealth

The teaching adds these rules:

Glossy, charming Śālagrāmas give prosperity. Dry ones lead to loss of life, wealth and power. Only the glossy ones should be sought.
Among stones in even numbers, the double (a pair) should be avoided.
Among stones in uneven numbers, the triple should be avoided.
Even a chance sight of a Śālagrāma at the moment of leaving the body gives moksha (liberation).

Bhagavān Vishṇu himself spoke to the devoted king Ambarīsha: “Brāhmaṇas, renunciants, and smooth Śālagrāma stones: these three are my forms that appear on earth to destroy the pāpa of those who have done wrong.”

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

Women and the Śālagrāma

The text lays down that women, whether widowed or with living husbands, must not touch a Śālagrāma stone. Flowers dropped from a woman’s hands onto the stone strike it with the force of Indra’s vajra (thunderbolt). Sandal paste offered by a woman is like poison. A woman who touches the stone goes to naraka for as long as fourteen reigns of Indra, even if she has good character in every other way. The brāhmaṇas state this rule solemnly.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

The nine sacred objects

The text names nine forms of Vishṇu’s pādodaka (foot-water) that together are nectar for all beings: Tulasī, sandal, water, a conch, a bell, a cakra, a Śālagrāma stone, a copper vessel, and the names of Vishṇu. When these nine are brought together in worship, they burn all the heaped pāpa.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

The Śabara hunter’s liberation

The glory of the Gaṇḍakī is shown by the account of a Śabara hunter of the Pulkasa jāti, born in Kikaṭa. He was the very form of wrong-doing. He killed animals without rest, robbed pilgrims, and longed for other men’s wives and wealth. He never did a single act of piety.

When Yama’s fearful messengers seized him after his death, a devotee of Vishṇu came to the place. Moved by deep compassion, this great soul placed a Śālagrāma stone on the hunter’s chest and a Tulasī leaf on his head, and murmured the names of Rāma into the ear of the dying man.

At once Vishṇu’s own attendants arrived, wearing yellow garments and marked with the conch and cakra. They freed the hunter from the iron chains of Yama’s servants. The servants of Vishṇu said: “The touch of the Śālagrāma stone burns in a moment all the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa and of the murder of a crore of beings. As a spark of fire burns cotton, so the name of Rāma, even if heard by chance, burns pāpa.”

The hunter was taken to svarga in a divine vimāna (aerial car). He enjoyed the pleasures of svarga for a myriad of years. He was then born again in a good brāhmaṇa family in Kāśī, and from there he reached the highest place.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

Merit of the Gaṇḍakī

“All the wonderful puṇya (merit) won by bathing at all places and by doing all kinds of yajñas is present in each drop of the Gaṇḍakī.” Within one yojana of the Gaṇḍakī a crore of sacred places are said to be present. The river is described as “resorted to by devas and asuras, overflowing with holy water, and destroying heaps of pāpa.”

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells this.

Sources

Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20