The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s1.5

v1.c19.s1.5

Outside the rivers in the Indus basin, are mentioned Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, and Sarayu. Gaṅgā does not appear to be a well known or even important stream in the period of the *Ṛigveda*. Yamunā has been mentioned thrice in the *Ṛigveda*, which refers to the great victory of Sudās and the Tṛitsus on the Yamunā in the famous *Dāśarājña*. The Sarasvatī is the river par excellence (*Nadītamā*, *RV*, II 41. 16), and occurs most frequently in the *Ṛigveda*. It seems to have been the holy stream of the Vedic age. In the enumeration of rivers in the *Nadīstuti* (X. 75. 5) Sarasvatī comes between the Yamunā and Śutudrī, and is generally identified with the modern Sarsuti, which is lost in the desert at Bhatnair. Roth, Zimmer, Griffith, and Ludwig hold that in many passages of the *Ṛigveda* the Sindhu is meant by the Sarasvatī.¹ It may be observed in this connection that it is possible that the Sarasvatī was as large as the Sutlej in the Vedic age, and actually reached the sea, as the *Ṛigveda* (VI. 61. 2, 8; VII. 95. 2) describes it as going to the ocean. The Sarasvatī was the first of the Vedic rivers (II. 41. 16) and its banks witnessed the development of the Vedic sacrifices.