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आकाशात् पतितं तोयं यथा गच्छति सागरम् ।
सर्वदेवनमस्कारं केशवं प्रतिगच्छति ॥

ākāśāt patitaṃ toyaṃ yathā gacchati sāgaram ।
sarvadevanamaskāraṃ keśavaṃ pratigacchati ॥

Meaning:

As the water that falls down in rain from anywhere in the sky finally reaches the Ocean, the worship of any divine aspect ultimately reaches the Supreme Being.

The above verse is quite famous. This shloka is used by many to prove the oneness of the God.

  • From which scripture is the above verse taken?
  • If the verse is not one from any veda or upanishad, then who is the author of it?

Translation from this blog

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  • 1
    I think a Vaishanava Purana contains this verse as it says "keśavaṃ pratigacchati".
    – The Destroyer
    Jan 15, 2017 at 13:38
  • 2
    Both this & this site say that the sloka is from some Subhasitas..
    – Rickross
    Jan 15, 2017 at 14:10
  • @Rickross That's the reason I have added the second bullet point. Jan 15, 2017 at 14:17
  • 5
    A similar verse is in Skandha Purana "यथा तोयप्रवाहाणां समुद्र: परमावधि । तथैव सर्व मार्गाणां साक्षान्निष्ठा महेश्वरः ।। As all streams ultimately empty themselves into the ocean, so all these paths ultimately lead to the Great Lord Himself."
    – Tezz
    Jan 16, 2017 at 1:47

1 Answer 1

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The śloka appears to be from the end of Viṣṇusahasranāma belonging to a recension of the Mahābhārata that did not make it to the BORI critical edition:

13,135.142d*0637_06   rudra uvāca

13,135.142d*0637_07   rāma rāmeti rāmeti rame rāme manorame
13,135.142d*0637_08   śrīsahasranāmatattulyaṃ rāmanāma varānane

13,135.142d*0638_01   iti stutvā hṛṣīkeśaṃ pārthas tūṣṇīṃ sthitas tataḥ
13,135.142d*0639_01   namo brahmaṇyadevāya gobrāhmaṇahitāya ca
13,135.142d*0639_02   jagaddhitāya kṛṣṇāya govindāya namo namaḥ

13,135.142d*0639_03   ākāśāt patitaṃ toyaṃ yathā gacchati sāgaram
13,135.142d*0639_04   sarvadevanamaskāraḥ keśavaṃ prati gacchati

13,135.142d*0639_05   sarvavedeṣu yat puṇyaṃ sarvavedeṣu yat phalam
13,135.142d*0639_06   tat phalaṃ puruṣa āpnoti stutvā devaṃ janārdanam

13,135.142d*0640_01   jitaṃ te puṇḍarīkākṣa namas te viśvabhāvana
13,135.142d*0640_02   namas te 'stu hṛṣīkeśa mahāpuruṣapūrvaja

This question states that a slightly different version of Viṣṇusahasranāma is also part of Padma and Skanda Purāṇas but I didn't find the śloka in those.

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