Name of some Indian rivers (etymological meanings and myths).--(Part -1)
Name of some Indian rivers (etymological meaning and myths).--(Part -1)
(The Sanskrit words written in italics can be found in the Sanskrit English Lexicon by Sir Monier Willams in the link <http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/>)
Upanishad has cited:
As the rivers flowing with joys set in the sea, giving up the names and forms (identities)
So the learned ones reach the supreme divine soul leaving behind their identities.
(यथा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रेऽ स्तं गच्छन्ति नामरूपेविहाय । तथा विद्वान् नामरूपाद्विमुक्तः परात्परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम् ॥
yatha nadyahH syandamanaaH samudreH astang gachhati naamarUpevihaaya. tathaa vidvaan naamrUpadvmuktaH parattparang puruShamupati divyam.)
Meaning of nadI----River.
nadI---nad + I . nad----to sound joyously. I = Energy or shakti. Also, ' i ' means 'flow or motion' .
Thus nadI or river means the one who is expressing or roaring the sound of joy and flowing.
nadI---Every river or nadI is a stream of vaak, the expressive Consciousness, in the form of water or ap, bestowing what is the desired. ap or water means the one who fulfills the desire or quenches the thirst.
Each river is flowing to fulfill a specific desire of the Universal consciousness.
As the streams of Consciousness or feelings are flowing through the spine down from the head and spreading everywhere in several streams, so are the rivers, created from the Universal Consciousness, are flowing over the earth, making it verdant and lushing and supporting the habitats along the banks.
The word nad means to sound and the word nand means to rejoice.
As the unlocked hairs flow down from the head of a woman, as the nerves stream down from the head through the spine and spread everywhere, so the rivers flow from the summits of the snow capped mountains down the hills, through the planes and into the sea.
As a river meanders in its course, it supports the lives, civilization ad habitation in its specific ways. The 'call' or the sound of the river is 'kallola'. 'kal' means to 'sound' or 'call'. ' lola' means 'to roll' or 'to meander'.
(kaala means 'time'.)
Rivers and the names.
(1) narmadaa---narma (play) + daa (gives, donates)-----goddess who bestows mukti or salvation playfully.
The river originates from Amarkantak Plateau in Central India and joins the Arabian sea at Gulf of Khumbhat. It flows from east to the west and has created the boundary between the north and the south India.
(2) bhaaratI----bhaa (shine, illumination)+ rata (dwelled, located) + I----who is located inside the shine.
(3) ga~Ngaa----gam (to move) + gaa (to sing).
Here gaa implies udgaana. udgaana means the words or chanting (gaana ) by which muhkya praaNa or Universal Consciousness lifts us above (ud ) the death.
ga~Ngaa----Who moves (gam) and takes us along beyond the misery or sin or death by singing (gaa), i.e. by lifting the physicality (or the physical words / world) into eternity (beyond death).
River Ganga /Ganges (ga~Ngaa) originates from the Himalayas and ends in the Bay of Bengal.
The river originates from the glacier called gomukha---meaning mukha or mouth of a cow (go). Cow is one of the meanings of the Sanskrit word 'go'. Etymologically 'go' means the sensory faculties by which we move around, pasture and thrive. Thus in the Vedic era ' go dhana' or the 'cattle-wealths' are so coveted treasures! go dhana means the 'divine sensing faculties'. The faculties become divine when they do not decay, when they are unbound.
(Refer https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2017/12/sanskrit-word-related-to-go-all-words.html)
So, gomukha means the mukha or the mouth from which the sensory faculties are originating. The senses or the sensory organs (indriya) are called praaNa, because they are the revelation of praaNa or the Active Consciousness. Active Universal Consciousness, by whose actions every one is activated and time is in action, is called mukhya praaNa or the principal praaNa who takes everyone to eternity.
(4) yamunaa--Named after yamI who is the sister of yama ( the god of death).
yama is the covering deity ( aavaraNa devataa) of the 'eternity' or 'eternal universal Consciousness'.
yam---to govern, to curb.
yamana --the act of restraining or governing
Actually, it means the act of restraining or governing by the 'dominance of death' or by the 'requirements of survival or fitness'. As one looks at the root of this yamana, the Consciousness who is both death and life is revealed to the one.
yamI is also the power or shakti of yama.
yamunaa----Who is flowing to control and restrain all to lead them beyond the death.
River Yamuna ( yamunaa ) originates from the Himalayas and merges with the river Ganga in Allahabad. The place of confluence is known as confluence of three rivers (triveNI sa~Ngama ); the third river is considered as sarasvatI who is also there in a mysterious unseen way.
(5) vaitaraNI----vi (without) + taraNI (boat)----The river that has to be crossed without a boat.
vaitaraNI----vaitaraNa (granting/donating/distributing) + I ----The river that can be crossed by the act of distributing, i.e. by seeing the Consciousness or Soul in everything. When there is Oneness or One every where, there is no longer any gap to cross.
After the death, the departed soul has to cross vaitaraNI.
The vaitaraNI / Baitarani originates from the Gonasika/Guptaganga (Cow Nose Shaped) hills of Odisha and makes a confluence with river Brahmani and then it ends in Bay of Bengal. Around half a kilometer pf the river flows underground and not visible from outside.
(6) sarasvatI---saras + vatI
saras---sRi + as
'sRi' means 'to gt shifted'.
'as' means to exist (like the word 'is').
So, saras means 'the one who exists in all shifting or in all change of courses'; it also means the one who always shifts.
'vatI' means the One (female) who is characterized by a feature or who is possessing a feature.
Thus, sarasvatI is the goddess who exists in all shifting along the course of flow of Consciousness. She is hidden in all the streams and simultaneously remains unmoved in all the shifting and meanders (as she is in all 'shifts').
The river sarasvatI is known to change courses and remain hidden under the streams of ga~Ngaa and yamunaa.
In all the streams of the words and sentences, the goddess vaak (the goddess of the words ) is flowing. We are constantly moving from words to words, but they are the same ONE or vaak expressing Herself and that makes the life flowing or time acting. In all our flow of feelings(heart) and actions(mind), we don't go astray and remain unchanged, unmoved in our immutable soul (sva). This ability to remain in the unchanged, constant form amidst the action of time is called 'vidya' or 'shakti'.
Sarus Cranes----These birds have got the name from saras. They are special for their long neck or the vocal organ, long bill, for playing trumpets and foraging in the marshy grounds of the water bodies.
saras means 'a lake', 'anything with rasa or sap-----anything which is spirited with fluidity of the Consciousness. sa (saha---with ) + rasa (sap).
Thus the lakes and the ponds as the Consciousness personalities are vidyaadhara or vidyaadharI (female) each of whom is holding or each of whom is representing certain aspects of sarasvati --the goddess of words and also celebrated as the goddess of learning.
Every specific knowledge is like a lake in this ocean of Universal Consciousness.
There is a river called vidyaadharI in West Bengal , India.
Finally, sarasvatI = sara + sva + tI
sara----shifting, moving , fluid
sva----immutable soul who remains still amidst all motion or motion of time.
tI----denotes a female or shakti who is endowed with a certain quality or power.
Thus sarasvatI is the vidya or shakti by whom one remains always attached to one's unchanged, eternal soul amidst all the changes and drifts.
(Refer <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasvati>_River for the geographical details of the river.)
(7) dRiShadvatI------driShad + vatI= drI + ShaT+ vatI
dRi----d (donate, express) + Ri (Rik) + Shad (established or founded) + vatI----(a female) possessing certain virtue, quality or power---The personality of the Universal Consciousness by whose act of vision, 'Rik' or 'embodiment of Consciousness' or 'Conscious words' are expressed into many forms or views (dRish).
Thus, dRiShadvatI is the goddess or the personality of the Universal consciousness from whom the 'Conscious Words' or the 'Rik' s are getting expressed as the 'visible, perceptible universe'.
So, it is said that brahmaavarta (the whirling universe) is situated between sarasvati and dRiShadvatI .
brahmaavarta means where the 'varta or presence' of brahmaa is felt. sarasvati is the shakti or the consort of brahmaa. brahmaa is the Universal Divine Mind from whom the spoken words are originating as the dimensional universe.
(Refer <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drishadvati_river> for the geographical course of the river.)
(8) aatreyI------aa +tra + I
aa-----aatman
tra----traaNa---rescue, salvation
I---characterized or qualified
aatreyI----The power of aatman or shakti of aatman by which the Universal Soul or Universal Consciousness rescueses us brings us back in aatman or Absolute Universal Oneness.
aatreyI is connected with the word atri which is from the root word atti (to eat) or ad (to eat).
The word ad meaning 'to eat' is also the root of the word aditi meaning 'without duality'.
Thus the Universal Consciousness or the Creator is eating and assimilating every bit of the creation. This process of assimilation is bringing every entity back into the Universal Oneness; the entities which are created to reveal duality of the Oneness.
Thus in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it is said---sa yat yat kRiyate tat tat attum adhrIyata--whomsoever He (the Creator) has created, He vowed to eat them all.
Thus is aatreyI, who removes all the dirt of duality.
The river aatreyI originates from a place about 10 KM from the north west of Shiliguri town (jungles of Baikunthapur) in West Bengal (India) and then enters Bangladesh and finally passes through Chalan Beel (a vast marshy area in Natore of Bangladesh) and joins with the river Barai in Pabna (Bangladesh) and the river then finally joins Padma river (in Bangladesh).
(9) karatoyaa----kara + toyaa
kara is from the root word kRi . kRi means 'to do' or 'to create'. kara is the tool for the creation. Thus kara means 'hand' , 'finger'. kara also means 'rays'. Like by the fingers we touch others, so the sun is touching all of us by the rays.
taay means 'to spread or proceed in a continuous stream'. A similar word is vaataya which means to fan.
The word toya means 'flowing water or river'. The alphabets 'ta' and 'ya' together make these words ' taay' and 'toya'. The alphabet 'ta' represents the end or 'finally realized', 'physicality'. It is the first alphabet of the 'last' group of the Sanskrit consonants. The alphabet 'ya' represents 'yamana' or control by the Consciousness.
Thus toya means the flow that drives one toward the 'controlling centre'. So karatoyaa----kara + toyaa means the flow that drives one toward the centre from where all the 'work' or 'activities' are originating. This purifies the deeds or the karma.
So, karatoyaa also means the 'flow of Consciousness' that comes out of the 'creator's hands' or that makes us active.
karatoyaa river originates from Baikunthapur forest in the north -west of Jalpaiguri district of the state of West Bengal (India) and then meanders through Bangladesh and finally joins yamunaa.
(10) Betna (vetravatI)-----River vetravatI is known as 'Betna' and originates from Bangladesh.
vetravatI = vetra + vatI----Means the one (female) who belongs to vetra.
vetra means 'a cane' or 'a reed'. The word 've' means to weave and represents 'vaayu' or the 'air god' or the personality of the Universal consciousness who has weaved the enter universe in a network.
vetra also means the network of the three (' tra' ) fundamental deities or the three forms of the Universal consciousness (vaak, praaNa, manas) by whom the universe is constituted.
The canes or the reeds represent the conduits or channels through which the 'air' or 'life' is flowing in the universe and connecting everyone.
As the Consciousness flows, the words or the sounds are released in the mind. From the mind the words are 'aired' into physicality.
The bamboo is also called 'veNu' which means 'flute'. It also represents the 'spine' or rather it is 'spine' in our physical body. Bamboo or cane is also called 'vansha' . vansha' also means 'spine', 'genealogy' or 'lineage'. The network of the wind god defines the 'lineage'. 'vanshI' means flute. Like the air blown through the flute, the Consciousness or the streams of sensations (physically as nerves) are flowing through the spine. It is the flute being played by the lord of the life; it is the same sound that one hears in the vines of bamboos or canes.
vetravatI is the goddess who regulates this weaving or meshing. The river is very sacred.
The river vetravatI originates in Jessore of Bangladesh and finally flows through West Bengal , India and meets Bay of Bengal.
(11) Punarbhaba ---punarbhavaa
punarbhavaa-----Who creates herself repeatedly or who manifests repeatedly----it is that aspect of the Consciousness by which any event is repeated, any thing is re-created.
punarbhavaa river originates from Thakurganj district of Bangladesh, flows through Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal (India0 and finally merges with Ganga.
It may be noted that one of the names of shakti is punarbhU and the goddess Night (raatri) is mentioned as punarbhU in Rik veda
(12) jaahnavI------daughter of the sage jahnu. jaahnavI is a name given to Ganga /Ganges (ga~Ngaa)
jahnu----ja + hnu; ja = born, birth, generation. hnu----to take away, to conceal.
Whenever we feel or do any thing we do it in our Consciousness. In that one part is 'expression' , 'action' or 'creation' and the other part is 'feeling' or 'listening' whatever is expressed/created or whatever is activated. Whatever we do, we feel it. Very simply, there are two things in any actions of Consciousness, (i) 'expression' or 'speaking' and (ii) 'to listen what we speak'. This listening part is called shruti and thus in every action, 'we are returning to the source' through 'listening', 'feeling' or through ' shruti'. This is 'to take away' or 'to conceal'--this act is ' hnu'.
This 'knowledge' is personalized is the sage 'jahnu' , who knows that any thing created (ja) in Consciousness is simultaneously returning(nhu) to the source (Consciousness). Thus it is said, that jahnu drank the entire ga~Ngaa. 'jahnu' got the entire creation in the 'soul' or he found it as 'shruti'.
The seat of shruti or listening in us is the 'ear'. The direction in which the Consciousness makes us active is called 'south' or 'right'. Thus, ga~Ngaa was released from the 'right ear' of 'jahnu' and got the name 'jaahnavI'.
(13) kaaverI--The word ' kaaverI ' is derived from the word 'kavarI' which means 'a braid' or ' fillet of hair'.
kaaverI is the consort or 'shakti' of 'jahnu'. When the streams of Consciousness are unlocked from the head (centre of Control), it flows down (like through the spine in our body). It is then ga~Ngaa. If, like the seer 'jahnu', we get the wisdom, we will find the external universe held within the 'eternal soul'. So, Consciousness in this form is kaaverI ---the locked braid held in the 'head'.
(14) godaavarI----go (sennses / sensory faculties) + daa (donor) + varI (chooser/suitor/solicitor).
(go is from the root word gam meaning 'to go'. Meaning of 'go' is not limited to 'cow' only. 'go' means the sensory faculties by which we move around, pasture and thrive. Thus in the Vedic era ' go dhana' or the 'cattle' are so coveted treasures! go dhana means the 'divine sensing faculties'. The faculties become divine when they do not decay, when they are unbound. Refer <https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2017/12/sanskrit-word-related-to-go-all-words.html> )
varI is from the root word vRi meaning 'to select', 'to accept'. varI also means 'supreme' or 'eminent'.
godaavarI---who is flowing to bestow the divine (unending, unbound) sensory faculties and eager to select the seeker of eternity to bestow the same.
It may be noted that the myths about godaavarI is related to the seer gautama (गौतम)--- ----go>gau ( गौ) + tama;
tama is the word for 'superlative degree'. So, gautama means whose faculties of senses have become supreme, i.e who can see the unseen, hear the unheard and so on; whose senses are not limited and they never decay.
godaavarI originates from Tryambakeshwar of Maharashtra (India) flows through Nasik (naasika) and through various states of India and finally merges into Bay of Bengal.
(15) gomatI- go (sensory faculties) + matI (possessing , enriched)------Who harbours the sensory faculties.
gomatI is the daughter of the seer vasiShTha. vasiShTha is the one who is supreme among the deities called vasu. vasu are the deities or the personalities of the Universal Consciousness who make the objective world available to us or who make us to 'dwell'. vasa means 'dwelling' and vastu means objects. We get this objective world by our sensory faculties. What we are feeling as the sensations coming from the external world and keeping us animated are actually the animation or consciousness from the group of deities called vasu.
Gomati originates from Gomat Taal(Lake Gomat), near Madho Tanda, Pilibhit located in state of UP in India and meets the Ganges River near Saidpur, Kaithi in Varanasi district of UP.
Notes: 1. The above is written from my learnings, whatever, by following the teachings of my Gurus, the great seers , Shri. BijoyKrishna Chattopaadhyaaya (1875-1945) and his principal disciple Shri. Tridibnatah Bandyopaadhyaaya (1923-1994).
2. In the next part, a few other rivers will be covered.
(The Sanskrit words written in italics can be found in the Sanskrit English Lexicon by Sir Monier Willams in the link <http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/>)
Upanishad has cited:
As the rivers flowing with joys set in the sea, giving up the names and forms (identities)
So the learned ones reach the supreme divine soul leaving behind their identities.
(यथा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रेऽ स्तं गच्छन्ति नामरूपेविहाय । तथा विद्वान् नामरूपाद्विमुक्तः परात्परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम् ॥
yatha nadyahH syandamanaaH samudreH astang gachhati naamarUpevihaaya. tathaa vidvaan naamrUpadvmuktaH parattparang puruShamupati divyam.)
Meaning of nadI----River.
nadI---nad + I . nad----to sound joyously. I = Energy or shakti. Also, ' i ' means 'flow or motion' .
Thus nadI or river means the one who is expressing or roaring the sound of joy and flowing.
nadI---Every river or nadI is a stream of vaak, the expressive Consciousness, in the form of water or ap, bestowing what is the desired. ap or water means the one who fulfills the desire or quenches the thirst.
Each river is flowing to fulfill a specific desire of the Universal consciousness.
As the streams of Consciousness or feelings are flowing through the spine down from the head and spreading everywhere in several streams, so are the rivers, created from the Universal Consciousness, are flowing over the earth, making it verdant and lushing and supporting the habitats along the banks.
The word nad means to sound and the word nand means to rejoice.
As the unlocked hairs flow down from the head of a woman, as the nerves stream down from the head through the spine and spread everywhere, so the rivers flow from the summits of the snow capped mountains down the hills, through the planes and into the sea.
As a river meanders in its course, it supports the lives, civilization ad habitation in its specific ways. The 'call' or the sound of the river is 'kallola'. 'kal' means to 'sound' or 'call'. ' lola' means 'to roll' or 'to meander'.
(kaala means 'time'.)
Rivers and the names.
(1) narmadaa---narma (play) + daa (gives, donates)-----goddess who bestows mukti or salvation playfully.
The river originates from Amarkantak Plateau in Central India and joins the Arabian sea at Gulf of Khumbhat. It flows from east to the west and has created the boundary between the north and the south India.
(2) bhaaratI----bhaa (shine, illumination)+ rata (dwelled, located) + I----who is located inside the shine.
(3) ga~Ngaa----gam (to move) + gaa (to sing).
Here gaa implies udgaana. udgaana means the words or chanting (gaana ) by which muhkya praaNa or Universal Consciousness lifts us above (ud ) the death.
ga~Ngaa----Who moves (gam) and takes us along beyond the misery or sin or death by singing (gaa), i.e. by lifting the physicality (or the physical words / world) into eternity (beyond death).
River Ganga /Ganges (ga~Ngaa) originates from the Himalayas and ends in the Bay of Bengal.
The river originates from the glacier called gomukha---meaning mukha or mouth of a cow (go). Cow is one of the meanings of the Sanskrit word 'go'. Etymologically 'go' means the sensory faculties by which we move around, pasture and thrive. Thus in the Vedic era ' go dhana' or the 'cattle-wealths' are so coveted treasures! go dhana means the 'divine sensing faculties'. The faculties become divine when they do not decay, when they are unbound.
(Refer https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2017/12/sanskrit-word-related-to-go-all-words.html)
So, gomukha means the mukha or the mouth from which the sensory faculties are originating. The senses or the sensory organs (indriya) are called praaNa, because they are the revelation of praaNa or the Active Consciousness. Active Universal Consciousness, by whose actions every one is activated and time is in action, is called mukhya praaNa or the principal praaNa who takes everyone to eternity.
(4) yamunaa--Named after yamI who is the sister of yama ( the god of death).
yama is the covering deity ( aavaraNa devataa) of the 'eternity' or 'eternal universal Consciousness'.
yam---to govern, to curb.
yamana --the act of restraining or governing
Actually, it means the act of restraining or governing by the 'dominance of death' or by the 'requirements of survival or fitness'. As one looks at the root of this yamana, the Consciousness who is both death and life is revealed to the one.
yamI is also the power or shakti of yama.
yamunaa----Who is flowing to control and restrain all to lead them beyond the death.
River Yamuna ( yamunaa ) originates from the Himalayas and merges with the river Ganga in Allahabad. The place of confluence is known as confluence of three rivers (triveNI sa~Ngama ); the third river is considered as sarasvatI who is also there in a mysterious unseen way.
(5) vaitaraNI----vi (without) + taraNI (boat)----The river that has to be crossed without a boat.
vaitaraNI----vaitaraNa (granting/donating/distributing) + I ----The river that can be crossed by the act of distributing, i.e. by seeing the Consciousness or Soul in everything. When there is Oneness or One every where, there is no longer any gap to cross.
After the death, the departed soul has to cross vaitaraNI.
The vaitaraNI / Baitarani originates from the Gonasika/Guptaganga (Cow Nose Shaped) hills of Odisha and makes a confluence with river Brahmani and then it ends in Bay of Bengal. Around half a kilometer pf the river flows underground and not visible from outside.
(6) sarasvatI---saras + vatI
saras---sRi + as
'sRi' means 'to gt shifted'.
'as' means to exist (like the word 'is').
So, saras means 'the one who exists in all shifting or in all change of courses'; it also means the one who always shifts.
'vatI' means the One (female) who is characterized by a feature or who is possessing a feature.
Thus, sarasvatI is the goddess who exists in all shifting along the course of flow of Consciousness. She is hidden in all the streams and simultaneously remains unmoved in all the shifting and meanders (as she is in all 'shifts').
The river sarasvatI is known to change courses and remain hidden under the streams of ga~Ngaa and yamunaa.
In all the streams of the words and sentences, the goddess vaak (the goddess of the words ) is flowing. We are constantly moving from words to words, but they are the same ONE or vaak expressing Herself and that makes the life flowing or time acting. In all our flow of feelings(heart) and actions(mind), we don't go astray and remain unchanged, unmoved in our immutable soul (sva). This ability to remain in the unchanged, constant form amidst the action of time is called 'vidya' or 'shakti'.
Sarus Cranes----These birds have got the name from saras. They are special for their long neck or the vocal organ, long bill, for playing trumpets and foraging in the marshy grounds of the water bodies.
saras means 'a lake', 'anything with rasa or sap-----anything which is spirited with fluidity of the Consciousness. sa (saha---with ) + rasa (sap).
Thus the lakes and the ponds as the Consciousness personalities are vidyaadhara or vidyaadharI (female) each of whom is holding or each of whom is representing certain aspects of sarasvati --the goddess of words and also celebrated as the goddess of learning.
Every specific knowledge is like a lake in this ocean of Universal Consciousness.
There is a river called vidyaadharI in West Bengal , India.
sara----shifting, moving , fluid
sva----immutable soul who remains still amidst all motion or motion of time.
tI----denotes a female or shakti who is endowed with a certain quality or power.
Thus sarasvatI is the vidya or shakti by whom one remains always attached to one's unchanged, eternal soul amidst all the changes and drifts.
(Refer <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasvati>_River for the geographical details of the river.)
(7) dRiShadvatI------driShad + vatI= drI + ShaT+ vatI
dRi----d (donate, express) + Ri (Rik) + Shad (established or founded) + vatI----(a female) possessing certain virtue, quality or power---The personality of the Universal Consciousness by whose act of vision, 'Rik' or 'embodiment of Consciousness' or 'Conscious words' are expressed into many forms or views (dRish).
Thus, dRiShadvatI is the goddess or the personality of the Universal consciousness from whom the 'Conscious Words' or the 'Rik' s are getting expressed as the 'visible, perceptible universe'.
So, it is said that brahmaavarta (the whirling universe) is situated between sarasvati and dRiShadvatI .
brahmaavarta means where the 'varta or presence' of brahmaa is felt. sarasvati is the shakti or the consort of brahmaa. brahmaa is the Universal Divine Mind from whom the spoken words are originating as the dimensional universe.
(Refer <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drishadvati_river> for the geographical course of the river.)
(8) aatreyI------aa +tra + I
aa-----aatman
tra----traaNa---rescue, salvation
I---characterized or qualified
aatreyI----The power of aatman or shakti of aatman by which the Universal Soul or Universal Consciousness rescueses us brings us back in aatman or Absolute Universal Oneness.
aatreyI is connected with the word atri which is from the root word atti (to eat) or ad (to eat).
The word ad meaning 'to eat' is also the root of the word aditi meaning 'without duality'.
Thus the Universal Consciousness or the Creator is eating and assimilating every bit of the creation. This process of assimilation is bringing every entity back into the Universal Oneness; the entities which are created to reveal duality of the Oneness.
Thus in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it is said---sa yat yat kRiyate tat tat attum adhrIyata--whomsoever He (the Creator) has created, He vowed to eat them all.
Thus is aatreyI, who removes all the dirt of duality.
The river aatreyI originates from a place about 10 KM from the north west of Shiliguri town (jungles of Baikunthapur) in West Bengal (India) and then enters Bangladesh and finally passes through Chalan Beel (a vast marshy area in Natore of Bangladesh) and joins with the river Barai in Pabna (Bangladesh) and the river then finally joins Padma river (in Bangladesh).
(9) karatoyaa----kara + toyaa
kara is from the root word kRi . kRi means 'to do' or 'to create'. kara is the tool for the creation. Thus kara means 'hand' , 'finger'. kara also means 'rays'. Like by the fingers we touch others, so the sun is touching all of us by the rays.
taay means 'to spread or proceed in a continuous stream'. A similar word is vaataya which means to fan.
The word toya means 'flowing water or river'. The alphabets 'ta' and 'ya' together make these words ' taay' and 'toya'. The alphabet 'ta' represents the end or 'finally realized', 'physicality'. It is the first alphabet of the 'last' group of the Sanskrit consonants. The alphabet 'ya' represents 'yamana' or control by the Consciousness.
Thus toya means the flow that drives one toward the 'controlling centre'. So karatoyaa----kara + toyaa means the flow that drives one toward the centre from where all the 'work' or 'activities' are originating. This purifies the deeds or the karma.
So, karatoyaa also means the 'flow of Consciousness' that comes out of the 'creator's hands' or that makes us active.
karatoyaa river originates from Baikunthapur forest in the north -west of Jalpaiguri district of the state of West Bengal (India) and then meanders through Bangladesh and finally joins yamunaa.
(10) Betna (vetravatI)-----River vetravatI is known as 'Betna' and originates from Bangladesh.
vetravatI = vetra + vatI----Means the one (female) who belongs to vetra.
vetra means 'a cane' or 'a reed'. The word 've' means to weave and represents 'vaayu' or the 'air god' or the personality of the Universal consciousness who has weaved the enter universe in a network.
vetra also means the network of the three (' tra' ) fundamental deities or the three forms of the Universal consciousness (vaak, praaNa, manas) by whom the universe is constituted.
The canes or the reeds represent the conduits or channels through which the 'air' or 'life' is flowing in the universe and connecting everyone.
As the Consciousness flows, the words or the sounds are released in the mind. From the mind the words are 'aired' into physicality.
The bamboo is also called 'veNu' which means 'flute'. It also represents the 'spine' or rather it is 'spine' in our physical body. Bamboo or cane is also called 'vansha' . vansha' also means 'spine', 'genealogy' or 'lineage'. The network of the wind god defines the 'lineage'. 'vanshI' means flute. Like the air blown through the flute, the Consciousness or the streams of sensations (physically as nerves) are flowing through the spine. It is the flute being played by the lord of the life; it is the same sound that one hears in the vines of bamboos or canes.
vetravatI is the goddess who regulates this weaving or meshing. The river is very sacred.
The river vetravatI originates in Jessore of Bangladesh and finally flows through West Bengal , India and meets Bay of Bengal.
(11) Punarbhaba ---punarbhavaa
punarbhavaa-----Who creates herself repeatedly or who manifests repeatedly----it is that aspect of the Consciousness by which any event is repeated, any thing is re-created.
punarbhavaa river originates from Thakurganj district of Bangladesh, flows through Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal (India0 and finally merges with Ganga.
It may be noted that one of the names of shakti is punarbhU and the goddess Night (raatri) is mentioned as punarbhU in Rik veda
(12) jaahnavI------daughter of the sage jahnu. jaahnavI is a name given to Ganga /Ganges (ga~Ngaa)
jahnu----ja + hnu; ja = born, birth, generation. hnu----to take away, to conceal.
Whenever we feel or do any thing we do it in our Consciousness. In that one part is 'expression' , 'action' or 'creation' and the other part is 'feeling' or 'listening' whatever is expressed/created or whatever is activated. Whatever we do, we feel it. Very simply, there are two things in any actions of Consciousness, (i) 'expression' or 'speaking' and (ii) 'to listen what we speak'. This listening part is called shruti and thus in every action, 'we are returning to the source' through 'listening', 'feeling' or through ' shruti'. This is 'to take away' or 'to conceal'--this act is ' hnu'.
This 'knowledge' is personalized is the sage 'jahnu' , who knows that any thing created (ja) in Consciousness is simultaneously returning(nhu) to the source (Consciousness). Thus it is said, that jahnu drank the entire ga~Ngaa. 'jahnu' got the entire creation in the 'soul' or he found it as 'shruti'.
The seat of shruti or listening in us is the 'ear'. The direction in which the Consciousness makes us active is called 'south' or 'right'. Thus, ga~Ngaa was released from the 'right ear' of 'jahnu' and got the name 'jaahnavI'.
(13) kaaverI--The word ' kaaverI ' is derived from the word 'kavarI' which means 'a braid' or ' fillet of hair'.
kaaverI is the consort or 'shakti' of 'jahnu'. When the streams of Consciousness are unlocked from the head (centre of Control), it flows down (like through the spine in our body). It is then ga~Ngaa. If, like the seer 'jahnu', we get the wisdom, we will find the external universe held within the 'eternal soul'. So, Consciousness in this form is kaaverI ---the locked braid held in the 'head'.
(14) godaavarI----go (sennses / sensory faculties) + daa (donor) + varI (chooser/suitor/solicitor).
(go is from the root word gam meaning 'to go'. Meaning of 'go' is not limited to 'cow' only. 'go' means the sensory faculties by which we move around, pasture and thrive. Thus in the Vedic era ' go dhana' or the 'cattle' are so coveted treasures! go dhana means the 'divine sensing faculties'. The faculties become divine when they do not decay, when they are unbound. Refer <https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2017/12/sanskrit-word-related-to-go-all-words.html> )
varI is from the root word vRi meaning 'to select', 'to accept'. varI also means 'supreme' or 'eminent'.
godaavarI---who is flowing to bestow the divine (unending, unbound) sensory faculties and eager to select the seeker of eternity to bestow the same.
It may be noted that the myths about godaavarI is related to the seer gautama (गौतम)--- ----go>gau ( गौ) + tama;
tama is the word for 'superlative degree'. So, gautama means whose faculties of senses have become supreme, i.e who can see the unseen, hear the unheard and so on; whose senses are not limited and they never decay.
godaavarI originates from Tryambakeshwar of Maharashtra (India) flows through Nasik (naasika) and through various states of India and finally merges into Bay of Bengal.
(Refer https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2017/12/sanskrit-word-related-to-go-all-words.html)
(15) gomatI- go (sensory faculties) + matI (possessing , enriched)------Who harbours the sensory faculties.
gomatI is the daughter of the seer vasiShTha. vasiShTha is the one who is supreme among the deities called vasu. vasu are the deities or the personalities of the Universal Consciousness who make the objective world available to us or who make us to 'dwell'. vasa means 'dwelling' and vastu means objects. We get this objective world by our sensory faculties. What we are feeling as the sensations coming from the external world and keeping us animated are actually the animation or consciousness from the group of deities called vasu.
Gomati originates from Gomat Taal(Lake Gomat), near Madho Tanda, Pilibhit located in state of UP in India and meets the Ganges River near Saidpur, Kaithi in Varanasi district of UP.
Notes: 1. The above is written from my learnings, whatever, by following the teachings of my Gurus, the great seers , Shri. BijoyKrishna Chattopaadhyaaya (1875-1945) and his principal disciple Shri. Tridibnatah Bandyopaadhyaaya (1923-1994).
2. In the next part, a few other rivers will be covered.
{Written following the teaching of the great sage Shri.BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya (1875-1945) and his principal disciple Shri.Tridibnath Bandyopadhyaya (1923-1994)}
debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com
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