The Geography of the Puranas c10.34

c10.34

In the topographical map of Bhārata, the Sūktimat mountain is shown as a ring of ranges that encircle the Mahānadī basin which very nearly concides with the present Mahākosala and the Purāṇic Dakṣina-Kosala. The northern and north-western portion of this divide coincides with the southern Maikala range, the southern and eastern with the hills of Kanker and Sambalpur. The rivers which flow from the Sūktimat are given by the Purāṇas as the Ṛṣikulyā or the Kā'sika (Matsya), the Kumārī or the Sūkamārī, the Mandagā, the Manda Vāhinī, the Kṛpā or Kūpā and the Palaśinī (Paiṣinī). The Vāmana Purāṇa adds two more, the Sunī and the Sudāmi (see Table below). Of these the Mandagā is probably the river Mand, a left-bank tributary of the Mahānadī which itself is represented in the list as the Manda Vāhinī. The Kṛpa is the Arpa which joins the Seonath or the Sūnī, a considerable river, and their combined waters fall into the Mahānadī from the north. The Palaśinī is either the Jonk, a right-bank tributary of the Mahānadī on which the town Paraswani stands and reminds one of the name of the river Palaśinī or the bigger river Pairi which after joining the Sandur (or Sudami?) meets the Mahānadī at Rajim. The former is more probable since the main route from the coast into the Mahānadī basin crossed the river at Sankra while the latter was far away from the established route.