Rivers in Ancient India (study)

by Archana Sarma | 2019 | 49,356 words

This page relates ‘Disappearance of 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.

4. Disappearance of Sarasvatī

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The Sarasvatī had flowed down from the mountains and run into the ocean, but dried up owing to geological changes. The place where it lost its existence, aptly called Vinaśana or the ‘Disappearance’ of the Sarasvatī, is held to be in Punjab territory in Patiala district.^[1] Its disappearance has also been connected with the Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa. The Tāṇḍayamahābrāhmaṇa specifies the distance between Vinaśana and the Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa. According to it, the Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa is at distance of forty four āśvīnas from Vinaśana, one āśvīna being the distance traversed by a constantly moving horse in one complete day and night.^[2] It is held that Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa was actually the source of the Sarasvatī rather than the place of its re-appearance.^[3] Vinaśana is placed on the borders of the Śudras and the Ābhiras. The land of the Ābhiras is located above the Indus delta. Vinaśana is beyond the border of the two places. Vinaśana covers a large area possibly forming the western frontier of Madhya-Deśa whereas the latter has its other frontiers—the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā in the east, Himalayas in the North and Vindhya mountains in the South.

In the other literature Vinaśana is said to exist near modern Sirsā in Kurukṣetra in the eastern Punjab. Vinaśana has also been located beyond the modern Sirsā, to the West of which the Sarasvatī lost itself in the desert of Bhatner.

When it is said that locality called Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa is the source of the Sarasvatī, acceptance of the river as out fringing from the foot of the Siwalik range, will point to Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa as situated somewhere near the Siwalik ranges. This has been approved in a map prepared by Macdonell and Keith.^[4] Vinaśana is also assumed to be a locality where the Sarasvatī ceases to flow and is said to have been situated in Patiala district. Vinaśana is towards the South-West of the Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa.^[5]

The appearance and disappearance of the Sarasvatī may give us a hint to the root of the river. According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, it rises in the Sirmur State and flows down to the plains at Adh Badri. After flowing ahead for a short distance, it loses itself in the sand, but appears once more at a distance of three miles to the south of Bhavanipur. It again vanishes at Balchhappar and manifests itself while flowing through Karnal district until it loses itself completely in Patiala territory where Vinaśana is claimed to have been situated.

This gives us a clear picture of the root of the Sarasvatī. Modern investigations brush doubt aside and would have us believed that the above mentioned root was once virtually occupied by the old Vedic Sarasvatī. In this regard, Sir Aurel Stein survey is of immense importance. The river now called Ghaggar or Hākrā has been identified with the Sarasvatī, taken for an old Vedic Sarasvatī in the popular belief. The Vedic Sarasvatī has retained its old name in the modern Sarsūtī, which flows near Pehoa or modern Pṛthūdaka, miles away from the west of Thanesar. Though at present it has shrunk back and dwindled sufficiently, yet it has been taken to be a very big river once, though at present it has shrunk and dwindled and its bed remains dry for the most part of the year. But in the rainy season, it overflows and inundates a large area on its banks as its bed is raise up considerably. It is held that Hanumangarh, it joins Ghaggar -now Ghaggar Canal-an old remnant of a river which also originates from the same Siwalik range. When Sarsūtī joined the Ghaggar, it loses its previous name and is known as Sarsūtī-Ghaggar or plain Ghaggar. But when the name Ghaggar only is applied, it purports both the Sarsūtī and the Ghaggar. The single stream goes ahead under the name of Ghaggar through Patiala state, Hissar district, Bikaner, Bahawlpur and traversing a good distance, it enters the area of Pakistan bearing the name Hākrā. This Hākrā is the tail-end of the Ghaggar, which remains empty for the most part of the year, from November to June. This tail-end should not be taken to be to mean an intermediary to engulf the Sarasvatī (Ghaggar) to Indus. It is, in fact, through the Eastern Nara that the Sarasvatī reached the Rann of Kutch. At present, the Eastern Nara, which is the tail-end of the Sarasvatī or the Ghaggar, has taken the shape of the Sukkar barrage project.

So far as the confluence of the three rivers, Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī, at Prayāg is concerned, it appears to be simply craving on the part of the religious minded people to revive the popular notion that the Vedic Sarasvatī is still flowing and meets the other two rivers at Prayāg. On the basis of the aforesaid discussion, it is obvious that the Vedic Sarasvatī is left behind at Hanumangarh and flows under one name or the other (the Ghaggar, or the Sarsūtī) through Patiala, Hissar, Bikanur and Bhawalpur to the Rann of Kutch. It is also held that a river of peripheral importance called Sarasvatī joined the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā at Prayāg, and it is possible that it might have been misunderstood to be Vedic Sarasvatī by the people.^{^[6]}

Research conducted by various institutions, including the Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO), has suggested the course of the Sarasvatī. Satellite images have unearthed the hidden course of what could be the Sarasvatī river below the sand of Thar Desert in Rajasthan. As per an ISRO Report, the mapped course of the river is 4-10 Km wide passing through Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, confirming the findings of Oldham.

Geological Studies carried with to ascertain the existence of a palaeochannels remnant of an inactive river or stream channel that has been either filled or buried by sediment in the North-Western alluvial plains by the department of Geology, Kurukṣetra University, highlight the presence of a river system in the area demarcated for excavation. Studies have indicated that Sarasvatī boosted the development of Vedic Civilization. The Sedimentological characteristics of the alluvium in Kalayat and palaeo-river bed near Kurukṣetra point to the presence of a trans-Himalayan river system.

It is believed that Sarasvatī got lost due to tectonic movement. Darshan Lal Jain, the president of ‘Sarasvatī Nadī Shodh Sansthan’, said that satellite images obtained from ISRO prove palaeo-channels still exist below the ground.

Several agencies are involved in the Saravatī river project and they are trying to dig the river once again. The Haryana government has hired the Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) to prepare a detailed project report for revival of the river. Other agencies to be involved include the United Nations Development Programme, NABARD and Asian Development Bank. The ONGC has committed to carry out drilling of deep bore wells in the Sarasvatī river course.^{^[7]}