Manasollasa (study of Arts and Sciences)
by Mahadev Narayanrao Joshi | 1984 | 74,538 words
This essay in English studies the Manasollasa authored by Someshvara III, representing an ancient encyclopedic work encompassing over 8,000 Sanskrit verses. The text addresses diverse topics like polity, political sciences, architecture, jurisprudence, iconography, idol-making, and various arts and sciences such as mathematics. The Manasollasa is ...
3.2. Rivers described in the Manasollasa
Bharata is a land of rivers which have their rise in its lofty mountains. These rivers take different directions and run towards the Oceans encircling the sub-continent on three sides. The rivers serve as easy means of irrigation and make the fertile plains of India a rich agricultural country. It was on the bank of these rivers that flourishing seats of civilisation have developed from very early times. The great cities like Pataliputra, Varanasi, Prayaga, Ayodhya, Mathura, 61. Ed. K.S.Mahadeva Sastri. 'Avantisundari Katha.' (Trivendrum 1954) pp. 81-92. 62. aparantam pancanadam saurastram cadhamam vanam | | evamasta - vananyaddurgajanam janmanah padam || 2.3.179. 1
397 Ujjayini and vidisa in the north and Kanci in the south have their location on the banks of these rivers. Among the rivers rising from the Himalayas and flowing westward to join the Arabian sea, famous are the five rivers of the Punjab and the Sindhu which, with perhaps the Kubha (Kabul river) constituted the Vedic Saptasindhus, the seven rivers. 63 Somesvara mentions the river Sarasvati. He tells also about the rivers Yamuna, Jahnavi, and Narmada. In the period of Somesvara the river Narmada occupied the most important place among these four rivers. About river Sarasvati Dharmendra Kumar Gupta says that: 64 it springs from the Sirmur Hills of the Siwalik Range and emerges into the plains at Ad-Badri in Ambala district. It flows with frequent disappearances along the places Chalnaur, Bhawanipura, Pipli, and Kuruksetra-Thanesar, and is joined by the river Markanda at Urnai near Pehowa. 65 63. rgveda 2.12.3, 8.24.27. 64. Herant fata: zara: qafasyATSUED | sarasvati tribhih snanaih pancabhiryamuna pahrta jahanavi snanamatrena darsanadeva narmada || 1.18.133. 65. Dharmendra Kumar Gupta. Op.cit. pp.72-73.
398 In the Gupta and the Post-Gupta periods, the rivers Sarasvati and Drsadvati formed respectively the northern and the southern boundaries of the Brahmavarta. 66 The rivers originating from the middle part of the Himalayan range and flowing into the Bay of Bengal are (1) Ganga, also called Bhagirathi and Jahnavi the most sacred of the Indian rivers, rising from the hills near Gangotri to the north of Kedaranath, (2) Yamuna taking its rise from the Kalinda-giri a part of the Bandarpuchha Hills, and uniting with Ganga at Prayaga, and Sarayu, Gomati, Kousiki which join the river Ganga. Somesvara mentions Prayaga-tirtha. 68 67 It is the famous place of the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna and well-known as a place of pilgrimage. He refers also to the Manikarnika ghata of Ganga at Varannasi, where siva temple named Avimuktesvara exists. 69 66. manusmrti 2.17. sarasvatidrsadvatyordevanadyoryadantaram | tam devanirmitam desam brahmavarta pracaksate || 67. jahanavi saritam srestha yamuna narmada subha | tapi tarangini punya gautami papanasani || I. 18. 128. nadya ravanagangayah kule padmakare smrta || 2.4.492. 68. prayagastirtharajasca cintitarthapradayakah | ardhya tirthamadardhya ca surasarthanisevitam || 118.131. 69. Dharmendra Kumar Gupta. Op.cit. p.74.
399 Somesvara enumerates the following rivers while describing the holy places: Narmada, Tapi, Tungabhadra, BhImarathi, Malaprabha, Krsnaveni and Ravanaganga. These rivers take their rise from the mountains Mahendra, Malaya, and Sahya. Krsnaveni is the combined stream of the Krsna and Vena rivers. The former rises just north of Mahabalesvara in Satara district and falls into the Ocean south of Godavari. Bhimarathi is Bhima rising in the Poona district 70 and joining Krsna in the district of Raichur. Vanjara or Manjra rises in the Bhir district and joins Godavari to the north-west of Nizamabad. Tapi river rises in Betul district and flowing past. Surat falls into the Arabian Ocean. Somesvara notices some of the important lakes or tirthas of the time such as Sukla tirtha, Prabhasa, Kedaratirtha and so on. 71 70. Dharmendra Kumar Gupta. Op.cit. p.77. 71. puskarani ca punyani suklatirtham sukhapradam | prabhasaprathitam tirtha kedaram klesanasanam || |.19.133.