The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.69

v2.c17.69

**Vindu Sagara :—The lake referred to above is identified by the people with. a large sheet of water in the centre of the town. (See plate XXVIII). It is called *Gosāgara*, because it was in this tank that the Devī is supposed to have led her bovine flock to** water. But its popular name is *Vindu Sāgara*, so called from a statement, in the *Ekāmra Purāṇa* that drops (*Vindu*) from all the sacred pools on earth, in heaven, in the lower regions, as also of nectar, wine, holy butter and all that is most delectable constantly fall into it. The Purāṇa in question however is not in accord with the *Śiva Purāṇa* regarding the origin of it. According to it, it was Śiva, not Pārvatī, who caused it to be excavated. The *Śiva Purāṇa* itself [69] however, is not in accord with itself, for elsewhere it too assigns the origin of the lake to Śaṃkara; and this opinion is adopted by the *Brāhmya*, the *Brahmāṇḍa*, the *Padma* and the other Purāṇas. The discordance is explained away by the assertion that it was at the request of the Devi that Saṃkara caused the lake to be prepared. The derivation of the name is given in the same way in all the authorities named.