Name of some Indian rivers (etymological meaning and myths).--(Part -2)

Name of some Indian rivers (etymological meanings and myths).--(Part -2)---- (This is next part of the publication of Part-1 in the link <https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2018/04/name-of-some-indian-rivers-etymological.html> ).

(The divine aspects of the rivers.)

I chatter, chatter, as I flow 
To join the brimming river
For men may come and men may go
But I go on for ever! (From The Brook )

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/>

1. Shipra river-----The name Shipra originates from the word ' kShipraa ' .  kShipraa is the female form of kShipra. kShipra means 'quick' or 'fast' or 'momentary'. The temple of  mahaakaala, or the god from whom the time originates and in whom the time terminates', is located on the bank of river kShipraa.  

Thus kShipraa (she who performs actions quickly)  means the goddess where the beginning and end of an event are very close as both the origin and termination of time are revealing there.

Also, kShipra = kSha + i + pra----kSha---decay, to take away; i = flow or motion; pra = praaNa= active or flowing Consciousness.

River kShipraa is that aspect of the Universal Consciousness who is revealing as moments of time and who is taking back everything in the past (action of decay) along with her flow.
(praaNa or activity of the Universal consciousness is revealed as the sequence of time.)

2. Mandakini river---mandaakinI-----manda-----slow or calm.  mandaakinI-----Who flows slowly, calmly. mandaakinI is said to be located in the heaven. She flows slowly as the aging is slow there, the death or termination is far away from heaven. The 'spell' of an enjoyment or of an event is much longer in heaven.

The river originates from the glacier named Chorabali near Kedarnath in Uttarkhanda of India. Mandakini joins river Alakananda at Rudrapryag.

3. Alkananda river----alkaanandaa                 

alakaa---locked;  so alakaa also means unseen or beyond revelation.

nandaa---She who is delighted or rejoicing, she who bestows delight.

alakaanandaa---(i) She who gives delight that is  not known in the revealed universe.  (ii) She who lives in the delight beyond the realm of perceptible universe.

Alakananda is a headstream of the river Ganga.

Alakananda originates from the foot of glaciers Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak glaciers at Uttarakhand , India. The river has five tributaries. The last tributary is Bhagirtahi and it joins the Alakananda at Devprayag and from there Alakananda is known as the river Ganga.

4. Bhagirathi river----bhaagIrathI.

The word bhaga means 'god' and also 'vagina' or yoni  which the source or origin of the universe.
rathI means who is riding in a chariot (ratha) or who is driving a chariot.

Thus, Bhagirtaha (bhaagIratha) who brought Ganga on the earth is the personality of the Universal consciousness through whom the flow of Consciousness and thus the events and evolutions are channelized. Thus the word ' bhagya'  means 'destiny'. The word 'bhaaga' means 'portion'---the portion that one gets from the 'Universal consciousness'. The unbound Consciousness, the streams of praaNa are flowing. But everyone get portions as per the one's destiny. Destiny is the result of karma or one's activity or the activity of Consciousness in one. Thus as the streaming Consciousness or gangaa is earthed, it is called 'bhaagirtahI'. 

Bhagirathi is one of the two headstreams of the river Ganga.

5. Hiranyakeshi river---hiraNyakeshI

hiraNyakeshI-----hiraNya (golden)  + keshI (haired)----A female with golden hair.

kesha means hair of the head. This hair represents our brain cells or the innumerable instincts by which we are made and being made. Some instincts are latent, they were active in the past; some instincts are going to be active in the future with our evolution and dormant now. Each is a micro-me or a micro-soul.

kesha--ka + i + sha.  

ka is the first consonant of the Sanskrit alphabet and represents the commencement of expressions in duality or in physical world.

i stands for a motion or an action.

sha means shayana; shayana means act of sleeping, stage of dormancy.

So, kesha or the hair in the head represents the innumerable instincts or forms of us stored in the Consciousness.

kesha also means ka (who? ) + Isha (controls)-----'who is controlling?'-----Thus the hair on the head reveals the control of the Consciousness, how one is being held in the Consciousness and managed.

hiranya originates from the word 'hiM' which is the 'expression of certainty as one experiences the Universal Consciousness'. The 'certainty' of 'having everything, achieving everything', certainty 'of knowing the self as unending, unbound, omniscient, omnipotent....'.  'hiM' is a 'stobha'  as described in the Vedas. This is the significance of 'gold' or 'golden hue'----the colour that brings certainty , brings positive hope.

Thus hiranyakeshI means the goddess who is carrying us in this 'certainty'.

Hiranyakeshi river originates from the caves located inside the Hiranyakeshari temple, a holy shrine situated near the hill station of Amboli in south Maharashtra of India. It flows through Deccan Plateu and underneath the bridge named 'Victoria Jubilee Bridge", then flows through the town Ajra in the Kholapur district of Maharashtra. Before Ajra, the river plunges down on the rocks forming the Ramteertha falls which is a famous holy spot as Lord Rama was said to be there with his brother and wife during the exile in the forest. It further flows into Belgum district of Karnataka and finally confluences with the river Ghataprabha.

6. Ghataprabha river----ghaTa-prabhaa

ghaTa means 'water jar'. ghaTa in specific shapes are used in the worships following Vedic or Tantric rituals. Actually, ghaTa means heart (hridaya) which contains all the 'satisfactions' or fulfillments. or 'water' that quenches all the desires. Water is called ap or aapa and the word 'aapti' means 'achievement' or 'fulfilments'.
prabhaa means 'shine' or 'radiince'.

Thus 'ghaTa-prabhaa' means who is shining inside the heart or by whom the heart is illuminated. So, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4/3/7) quotes-----ya vigaanomayah praaNeShu hRdih antah jyotIh----- the one who  is the sensing in all our senses, the one who is the shine within the heart!

So, this the divine form of the river ghaTa-prabhaa.

7. bhogavatI river-----bhogavatI is the river flowing underneath the earth's surface and she (the river) is the same one who is Mandakini (mandaakinI) in the heaven.

bhoga means the feelings through which one goes or the conditions in which one lives in a specific time.
 Thus bhoga can be a state of existence in joy or sorrow.  bhogavatI mans the goddess in whose domain the creatures remain obsessed in their states of sorrow and joy and do not look beyond, do not look at the causes underlying.

This binds them to the earth. This serpentine force coils them in confinements. This is also an aspect of earth's gravitation and also is a domain of 'serpents or snakes'.

8. Five rivers of Punjab (Punjab > pancha (five) + aapa (water) ).

The five rivers or five kind of waters also represent the five aspects of praaNa.  In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it is stated that 'this water is the body of praaNa and this moon is the shine of praaNa'. praaNa is the flowing or active Universal consciousness.

(i) Jheelam river----Original name is vitastaa. This river is mentioned as Hydaspes or Bidaspes by Greeks.

vitastaa---vi (without) + tastaa.  tas means to 'fade', also 'tas' means to flip (toss). vitastaa means the goddess who does not fade, who does not flip. She flows and takes us along without a flip, without leaving us, without fading away.

The river originates from Verinag spring in south eastern Kashmir. it flows through Srinagar to enter Pakistan. It enters Punjab in the Jheelam district and then flows through part of Punjab within Pakistan. It ends in a confluence with Chenab river and finally the joint rivers merge with the Indus river.

(ii) Beas river ----Original name is vipaashaa.
vipaashaa----vi (without) + paasha (noose) +a-----The goddess in whom or in whose domain no noose can exist.  As long as we do not know the divine plane, we remain under the control of the deities; we are their animals or cattle (pashu) tethered by them. When the divine plane is revealed as the part of the expression of the Universal Soul or Universal Oneness toward the creation, this 'tethering' or 'noose' vanishes and we also become divine.

Thus vipaashaa flows removing all the knots and noose along her way.

(iii) Ravi river----Original name is paruShni; ushNi----One who is warm with the warmth (UShmaa) of Consciousness. The word 'paruSh' means 'harsh'. So, paruShni is the goddess who mellows the harshness by uShmaa or by the warmth of life or Consciousness.

para means who is different from the self. This duality is the cause of 'harshness' (parauSh). This harshness or duality vanishes by praaNa or flow of consciousness. In praaNa duality is regarded as the duality of Oneness. By  praaNa, by flow or activities of Consciousness, the harshness or duality mellows and Oneness integrates the dualities.
Thus flows parushNi. 

Ravi ( parushNi ) originates in the Himalayas (Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh). The river flows through Punjab and finally enters into Pakistan to meet the Chenab river.

(iv) Chenab river----Original name is asikani. (In Greece she was called Akesines.)

The Vedic name of Chenab is asikani. The word Chenab is from the two words Chen (chandraa--moon) + ab (aapa---divine water).  Chenab is formed by two rivers called Chandra and Bhaagaa.

bhaaga means allotment or portion. bhaagaa is the female form of bhaaga.

Thus the river carries all the elixir of the soma (moon) that oozes from each and every division or phases (bhaaga) of the moon. Thus the river carries all the elixir of the soma (moon / chandraa that oozes from each and every division or phases (bhaaga) of the moon. Moon or chandraa is the centre of the Universal consciousness from where the unbound flow of Consciousness or soma is divided into patterns and fractions. The stars and constellations belong to the domain of moon through which the regulation or apportionment happens. Thus soma is called aMshu which means 'the one who is divided or proportioned'. aMsha means 'part'.


sikataa means sandy soil or gravel. More precisely it means what is wetted or sprinkled with water. The word sich means to sprinkle.

asikani means the goddess who is possessing this domain where 'Consciousness' is sprinkling every one with soma.

As the goddess flows, she sprinkles the portions, the life, that is destined for each one and that is unique for each.

(v) Sutlej river---Original name is 'shutudri'. 'shutudri' is the female form of the word or name 'shatadru'. 

shatadru = shata (hundred) + dru (motion or rapid motion).

In Vedic Sanskrit, light or vision (drI) and motion (dru) are correlated. Thus the root word drI  means 'seeing'. Thus drishTi means vision. Seeing something means reaching at the thing. (It may be also noted that the English word ' motion' and the word 'notion' are similar in spelling and pronunciation. The word 'notion' carries the sense of 'how one regards or views'.)

The word shata or hundred means 'completeness or covering all'.

Thus the river shutudri or  Sutlej is flowing in all directions, bathing every entity with the streams of senses and taking to completeness, to unending faculties of  hearing,  touch, vision, taste and smell.

The river originates from the sacred lake Manasasarovar  (maanasa sarovara) in the Himalayas in Tibet flows through Punjab and joins Chenab river in Pakistan which finally joins the river Indus (sindhu) .

(debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com)