Rigvedic rivers

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"Hindu river" redirects here. For the river known as the Sindhū, see Indus River.

Rivers, such as the Sapta Sindhavah ("seven rivers" Sanskrit: सप्तसिन्धवः),[1] play a prominent part in the hymns of the Rig Veda, and consequently in early Vedic religion. Vedic texts have a wide geographical horizon, speaking of oceans, rivers, mountains and deserts. “Eight summits of the Earth, three shore or desert regions, seven rivers.” (asthau vyakhyat kakubhah prthivyam tri dhanva yojana sapta sindhun RV.I.35.8).[citation needed]

The Vedic land is a land of the seven rivers flowing into the ocean. It encompasses the northwestern Indian subcontinent from Gandhara to Kurukshetra.

Geography of the Rigveda[]

Geography of the Rigveda

Identification of Rigvedic hydronyms has engaged multiple historians; it is the single most important way of establishing the geography and chronology of the early Vedic civilization.[2] Rivers with certain identifications stretch from eastern Afghanistan to the western Gangetic plain, clustering in the Punjab (the region's name means "five waters", a Persianized form of the Indo-Aryan Panchanada meaning "five rivers"). Many have cognates in Avestan.

The same names were often imposed on different rivers as the Vedic culture migrated eastward from around Afghanistan (where they stayed for a considerable time) to mainland India via Punjab.[2]

List[]

Multiple hydronyms are located in Rig Vedic corpus; they are slotted according to rough geographical locations, following the scheme of Michael Witzel.[2] Alongside, opinions of scholars about modern correlates are provided:[3][4]

Indus:

  • Síndhu - Identified with Indus.[3] The central lifeline of RV.[4]

Northwestern Rivers:

  • Tr̥ṣṭā́mā - Blažek identifies with Gilgit.[3] Witzel notes it to be unidentified.[2]
  • Susártu - Unidentified.
  • Ánitabhā - Unidentified.
  • Rasā́ - Described once to be on the upper Indus; at other times a mythical entity.[3]
  • Mehatnū - A tributary of Gomatī́.[3] Unidentifiable.[2]
  • Śvetyā́ - Unidentified.
  • Kúbhā - Identified with Kabul river.
  • Krúmu - Identified with Kurrum.
  • Suvā́stu - Identified with Swat.
  • Gomatī́ - Identified with Gomal.
  • Saráyu / Harōiiu - Blažek identifies with Sarju.[3] Witzel identifies with Hari.[2]
  • Kuṣávā - Probably Kunar.
  • Yavyā́vatī - Noted to be a branch of Gomatī́. Witzel as well as Blažek identifies with Zhob River.[3][2] Dähnhardt comments it to be synonymous to Yamúnā or flowing very close to it[4] but Witzel had rejected a similar take by Talgeri.

Eastern tributaries:

  • Suṣómā - Identified with Soan.
  • Arjikiya - Blažek identifies with Haro.[3] Witzel speculates it to be Poonch or Tawi.[2]
  • Rivers of Punjab:
    • Vitástā - Identified with Jhelum.
    • Asiknī́ - Identified with Chenab.
    • Paruṣṇī - Probably Ravi.
    • Vípāś/Vípāśi/Vípāśā - Identified with Beas.
    • Śutudrī́ - Identified with Sutlej.
    • Marúdvr̥dhā - Identified with .[3]

Haryana:

Eastern Rivers:

  • Áśmanvatī - Identified with Assan.
  • Yamúnā - Identified with Yamuna.
    • Aṃśumátī - Probably an epithet for Yamúnā.[3]
  • Gáṅgā - Identified with Ganges.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ e.g. RV 2.12; RV 4.28; RV 8.24
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Witzel, Michael (1998). "Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India: Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C". In Bronkhorst, James; Deshpande, Madhav (eds.). Aryans and Non-Non-Aryans: Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology. Harvard Oriental Series. Cambridge. pp. 337–404.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Blažek, Václav (2016). "Hydronymia R̥gvedica". . Masaryk University. 64 (2): 7–54.
  4. ^ a b c d Dähnhardt, Thomas Wolfgang Peter (2009). "The descent of King Lion: Some considerations on the relations between the Indus and other rivers in the sacred geography and culture of ancient India". In Filippi, Gian Giuseppe (ed.). I fiumi sacri. Indoasiatica. Vol. 6. Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina. pp. 189–208. ISBN 9788875432416.
  5. ^ Kochhar, Rajesh (1999), "On the identity and chronology of the Ṛgvedic river Sarasvatī", in Roger Blench; Matthew Spriggs (eds.), Archaeology and Language III; Artefacts, languages and texts, Routledge, p. 262, ISBN 0-415-10054-2
  6. ^ Kar, Amal; Ghose, Bimal (1984). "The Drishadvati River System of India: An Assessment and New Findings". The Geographical Journal. 150 (2): 221–229. doi:10.2307/635000. ISSN 0016-7398.

Further reading[]

General
  • Gherardo Gnoli, De Zoroastre à Mani. Quatre leçons au Collège de France (Travaux de l’Institut d’Études Iraniennes de l’Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle 11), Paris (1985)
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