ता नः पुनीतामीवघ्नीः स्पृशतामात्मना भुव इति ॥२३॥
Äpaḥ puruá¹£a-vÄ«ryÄḥ stha
punantīr bhūr-bhuvaḥ-suvaḥ
tÄ naḥ punÄ«tÄmÄ«va-ghnīḥ
spṛśatÄm ÄtmanÄ bhuva iti
Äpaḥ - O water; puruá¹£a-vÄ«ryÄḥ - endowed with the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; stha - you are; punantīḥ - sanctifying; bhūḥ - of the planetary system known as Bhūḥ; bhuvaḥ - of the Bhuvaḥ planetary system; suvaḥ - of the Svaḥ planetary system; tÄḥ - that water; naḥ - of us; punÄ«ta - purify; amÄ«va-ghnīḥ - who destroys sin; spṛśatÄm - of those touching; ÄtmanÄ - by your constitutional position; bhuvaḥ - the bodies; iti - thus.
[The inhabitants of Krauñcadvīpa worship with this mantra.] O water of the rivers, you have obtained energy from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore you purify the three planetary systems, known as Bhūloka, Bhuvarloka and Svarloka. By your constitutional nature, you take away sins, and that is why we are touching you. Kindly continue to purify us.
Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.4):
bhÅ«mir Äpo ’nalo vÄyuḥ
khaá¹ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaá¹…kÄra itÄ«yaá¹ me
bhinnÄ praká¹›tir aá¹£á¹adhÄ
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego — all together these eight comprise My separated material energies.â€
The energy of the Lord acts throughout the creation, just as heat and light, the energies of the sun, act within the universe and make everything work. The specific rivers mentioned in the Å›Ästras are also energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and people who regularly bathe in them are purified. It can actually be seen that many people are cured of diseases simply by bathing in the Ganges. Similarly, the inhabitants of KrauñcadvÄ«pa purify themselves by bathing in the rivers there.
