The Geography of the Puranas c8.6

c8.6

It is not necessary that the Purāṇic idea regarding the source river of any river-system should be identical with what we hold today. For instance, the Purāṇas give equal importance to the Vaṅkṣu and Panj as the sources of Oxus or to Bhāgīrathī and Alakanandā as those of the Gaṅgā or to the Yārkand and Kāṣghar rivers of the Tārim. In fact, we were not sure about the sources of the major rivers of the world, even up to the late 19th or early 20th century. Controversies regarding the sources of the Nile, Brahmaputra, Oxus, etc., are well known.