Rivers in Ancient India (study)

by Archana Sarma | 2019 | 49,356 words

This page relates ‘The Geographical Facts of the river Sarasvati’ of the study on the rivers in ancient India as reflected in the Vedic and Puranic texts. These pages dicsusses the elements of nature and the importance of rivers (Nadi) in Vedic and Puranic society. Distinctive traits of rivers are investigated from descriptions found in the Vedas (Samhitas), Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Puranas. The research is concluded by showing changing trends of rivers from ancient to modern times.

2. The Geographical Facts of the river Sarasvatī

In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, there are various references to Sarasvatī as a river. It describes it as flowing from the mountains and reaching the sea.[1]

The Indian Peninsula may be broadly divided into three parts, namely,

  1. The triangular plateau of the Peninsula.
  2. The mountainous region of the Himalayas and
  3. The great Indo-Gangetic Plan of Punjab and Bengal.[2]

The Ṛgvedic mantra referred to above, tells us that the Sarasvatī originated in the mountains; but it has to ascertain which mountain it was. In the Purāṇas, the Sarasvatī has been considered one of the rivers issuing from the foot of the Himalayas. This shows that the Sarasvatī originated from the foot of the Himalayas. The Himalaya has a long range extending from the border of India and that of Baluchistan to the south is of the Brahmaputra in Assam.

It falls under the following geographical divisions.

  1. The Great Himalayas,
  2. The Lesser Himalayas,
  3. The Outer Himalayas.

Similarly, it has been geologically divided into different Zones as–

  1. The Northern Zone,
  2. The Central Zone,
  3. The Outer Zone

The Outer Himalayas fall under the Outer Zone and is the same as the Siwalik ranges. Rivers mostly flow from this division. The Sarasvatī too, has been considered to have out fringed from the foot of the Siwalik ranges.[3]

In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, there is the mention of two seas that Eastern and Western.[4] In the mantra, the word puravaḥ refers to the sea situated in the East and paraḥ to the one existing in the West. Geological evidences show that whole of Rajputana was previously the bed of a large sea which had extended even up to the South East of the Aravalli.[5] When the Sarasvatī is said to flow from the mountains into the sea,[6] it points to the fact that it flowed from the Siwalik ranges into this sea of Rajputana. The Yamunā and the Gaṅgā flowed into the Eastern sea, which is obviously different from the Rajputana sea. Sri V.P Ketkar, on astronomical as well as purāṇic grounds called the Eastern sea ‘the Gangetic sea.’[7]

In the Purāṇas, the Sarasvatī is said to be prācī[8] and paścimāmukhī.[9] These attributes clearly show a change in its course from East to West. Owing to the geological changes, there was a change in the Rajputana sea and because of this change in the sea the Sarasvatī, which was once flowing into the Rajputana sea along with the Dṛṣadvatī in the East, turn to the West. It is also corroborated by evidence. This sea of Rajputana was extended up to the South and East of the Aravalli mountains. It seems true that its decomposition during the catastrophic times must have been carried by erosion to all directions irrespective of the Rajputana Sea and the Eastern Sea. As a result, rivers falling into the Rajputana Sea would have diverted their way to South and west and the rivers falling into the Eastern Sea would have become more easterly. From the above observation, it can be concluded that the river Sarasvatī was previously in the East, and, later on change its course towards the West and flowing through the Eastern Nara entered the Rann of Kutch.[10]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

ekācetatsarasvatī nadīnāṃ śuciryatī giribhya ā samudrāt | rāyaścetantī buvanasya bhurerghṛtaṃ payo dudue nahuṣāya || Ṛgveda Saṃhitā,7.95.2

[2]:

cf., Wadia, D.N., Geology of India, p.1

[3]:

Ibid., pp. 9-10

[4]:

Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 10.136.5

[5]:

Vide, Das. A.C., Ṛgvedic India, p.7

[6]:

Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 7.95.2

[7]:

Vide, Das. A.C., Ṛgvedic India, p.8

[8]:

Pdp. P., 5.18.217, 28.123; Bhā.p., 10.78.19

[9]:

Skanda Purāṇa, 7.35. 26

[10]:

Vide, Khan, I., Sarasvatī in Sanskrit Literature, pp.16-17

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