तदाश्रयरूपस्य विलक्षणप्रकाशस्थानत्वादेव श्रीविष्णोर् व्यापकत्वे’पि शालग्रामादिषु निर्धारणम्। तच्च पुरुषवन्नान्तर्यामिदृष्ट्यपेक्षम्, किन्तु स्वभावनिर्देशपरमेव, तन्निवासक्षेत्रादीनां महातीर्थत्वापादनादिना कीकटादीनामपि कृतार्थत्वकथनात् । … पाद्मे—‘शालग्रामसमीपे तु क्रोशमात्रं समन्ततः । कीकटेऽपि मृतो याति वैकुण्ठभुवनं नरः ॥’ इति ।
evaṁ tad-āśraya-rūpasya vilakṣaṇa-prakāśa-sthānatvād eva śrī-viṣṇor vyāpakatve’pi śālagrāmādiṣu nirdhāraṇam | tac ca puruṣavan nāntaryāmi-dṛṣṭy-apekṣam, kintu svabhāva-nirdeśa-param eva, tan-nivāsa-kṣetrādīnāṁ mahātīrthatvāpādanādinā kīkaṭādīnām api kṛtārthatva-kathanāt | … pādme—‘śālagrāma-samīpe tu krośa-mātraṁ samantataḥ | kīkaṭe’pi mṛto yāti vaikuṇṭha-bhuvanaṁ naraḥ ||’ iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 294)
“Although Śrī Bhagavān is all-pervading, there is determination [of his presence in particular] in Śālagrāmas and so forth because of [Śālagrāmas and so forth] being places of the special manifestation of his form as their [viz., prema-bhaktas’] shelter. This [conclusion], furthermore, is not based on vision of the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) as in a human being [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān’s presence in Śālagrāma and so on is not understood to be because of his being the omnipresent Inner Regulator of every living being], but rather is based solely on ascertainment of his nature [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān is understood to be naturally manifest in special objects of worship like Śālagrāmas in a special way, that is, under the pull of his bhaktas’ bhakti], as per the narrations of the successfulness even of the Kīkaṭas and others [i.e., other non-Aryans] as a result of the transformation into grand tīrthas of regions and other places of their [i.e., a Śālagrāma and so forth’s] residence. … In Padma Purāṇa [it is said in this regard], ‘A human being who dies even in [the region of] Kīkaṭa in the vicinity of a Śālagrāma—anywhere within a krośa [i.e., roughly two miles]—goes to the world of Vaikuṇṭha.’”