Rivers play a prominent part in the hymns of the Rigveda, and consequently in early Vedic religion.

Mythology

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The central myth of the Rigveda is that of Indra slaying Vritra (literally "the obstacle"), liberating the rivers; in a variant of the myth, Indra smashes the stone Vala, liberating the cows that were imprisoned within. Rivers and cows are often compared or mythically identified in the Rigveda, for example in Rivers are often likened to cows in the Rigveda, for example in 3.33, a notable hymn describing the crossing of two swollen rivers by the cars of the Bharata tribe,

3.33.1cd Like two bright mother cows who lick their youngling, Vipas and Sutudri speed down their waters. (trans. Griffith)

The Sapta Sindhu are a group of seven chief rivers of uncertain or fluctuating identification (the number seven is of greater importance than the exact members of the group, compare the Saptarishi, and also the seven seas and the seven climes).

Geography of the Rigveda

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Identification of Rigvedic rives is the single most important way of establishing the geography of the early Vedic civilization. Rivers with certain identifications stretch from eastern Afghanistan to the western Gangetic plain, clustering in the Punjab. Some river names appear to go back to common Indo-Iranian rivers, with cognate river names in Avestan, notably the Sarasvati and the Sarayu.

A number of names can be shown to have been re-applied to other rivers as the center of Rigvedic culture moved. It is only possible to establish a clear picture for the latest phase of the Rigveda, thanks to the Nadistuti sukta which contains a geographically ordered list of rivers. The most prominent river of the early Rigveda is the Sarasvati, losing its prominence to the Indus in the late Rigveda. The reason for this is mostly ascribed to the movement of Vedic Aryans from out of their early seats in Gandhara and eastern Afghanistan into the Indus valley. It is disputed whether the loss of prominence of the Sarasvati is due to the drying up of the Ghaggar-Hakra.

List

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In the geographical organization of the following list, it has to be kept in mind that some or even the majority of names appearing both in early and in late hymns may have been re-applied to new rivers during the composition of the Rigveda.

Northwestern Rivers (western tributaries of the Indus):

• Trstama (Gilgit)
• Susartu
• Anitabha (listed once, in 5.53.9, with Rasa, Kubha, Krumu, Sarayu
• Rasa of the early Rigveda (later a mystical or cosmological river)
• Sveti
• Kubha (Kabul)
• Krumu (Kurrum)
• Gomati (Gomal)
• Sarayu
• Mehatnu
• Svetyavari
• Prayiyu (Bara)
• Vayiyu
• Suvastu (Swat)
• Gauri (Panjkora)
• Kusava (Kunar)

The Indus and its minor eastern tributaries:

• Sindhu (Indus; in the earlier hymns, sindhu means "stream" generically)
• Susoma (Sohan)
• Arjikiya (Haro)

Central Rivers (rivers of the Punjab):

• Vitasta (Jhelum)
• Asikni (Chenab)
• Parusni (Ravi)
• Vipas (Beas)
• Suturi (Sutlej)
• Marudvrdha

East-central Rivers (rivers of Haryana):

• late Sarasvati (Ghaggar; the early Sarasvati is more often identified with the Helmand, or classified as of unknown identification; late and post-Rigvedic Sarasvati is both a mystical, invisible river and an independent goddess)
• Drsadvati, Apaya ? (both hapax legomenon in RV 3.23.4)

Eastern Rivers:

• Asmanvati (Assan)
• Yamuna
• Ganga (Ganges)

Uncertain / other

• Silamavati
• Urnavati
• Yavyavati (Zhob river?)

See also

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• River goddess
• Samudra
• Nadistuti sukta
• Sapta Sindhu
• Ap (water)
• Rigvedic deities
• Aryan migration
• Old European hydronymy

References

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• Shrikant G. Talageri, The Rigveda, a historical analysis, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi (chapter 4)
• S.C. Sharma. 1974. The description of the rivers in the Rig Veda. The Geographical Observer, 10: 79-85.
• Michael Witzel, Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, 1989, 97–265.

Rigvedic rivers | Rig Veda | Hydronymy