Revā Tīrtha is the holy ground along the river Narmadā. Revā is one of the oldest and most honoured names of the Narmadā. In the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Revā Tīrtha is the place where the brāhmaṇa Somaśarma made his home and kept his practice, and where the whole Suvrata Upākhyāna takes place.

Revā as a name of the Narmadā

The sacred texts know the Narmadā by several names. Revā is among the oldest and most used. The Uttarardha of the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 77) uses Narmadā and Revā in the same sense. The Nārmada tīrtha-saṃgraha speaks of the “Revā-Sāgara-saṃgama”, the meeting of the Revā with the ocean, as one of the holiest spots on the whole length of the river.

The name Revā comes from a Sanskrit root that means swift flowing or leaping. The Narmadā’s wild course through the Vindhya and Satpura ranges shows the meaning of this name. (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 77)

Revā Tīrtha in the Suvrata Upākhyāna

The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa sets the whole account of Suvrata at Revā Tīrtha. The brāhmaṇa Somaśarma came to this holy place with his wife Sumanā and did tapas here. Their son Suvrata was born here. From childhood Suvrata was a great devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The Purāṇa shows this devotion as helped by the holy air of Revā Tīrtha and also as the fruit of his puṇya in his earlier life as Dharmāṅgada.

The teaching talks of the Suvrata Upākhyāna all take place within the holy ground of Revā Tīrtha. They include Sumanā’s talk on loha-pāpa-dharma, the teaching on ṛṇa-sambandha (the bond of debt) and the four kinds of sons, and the Dharma-Darśana account. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 11–14)

Sources

Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 11–22
Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 77