Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.297

c6.297

According to Alberuni, Meru and Niṣadha which are described as Varṣaparvatas in the Purāṇas, were connected with the Himalayan chain. The Himalayan mountain is the source from which the ten rivers, namely, Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhu, Mahī, Sindhu, Sarasvatī, Vetravatī, Vitamsā and Candabhāgā³ take their rise (Milinda, 114), but the Purāṇas mention more than ten rivers issuing from the Himavat, viz., the Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī, Sindhu, Candabhāgā, Yamunā, Śatadru, Vitastā, Irāvatī, Kuhu, Gomatī, Dhutapāpā, Bāhudā, Dṛṣadvatī, Vipāśā, Devikā, Raṅksu, Niścīrā, Gaṇḍakī and Kauśikī (cf. Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, 57, 16–18; Ibid., Vaṅgabāsī ed., Ch. 61, v. 16 E; for details of these rivers, vide Law, Geographical Essays, pp. 84–95). Ptolemy points out that the Imaos (the Himalayan mountain) is the source of the Ganges and the Indus as well as the Koa and the Swat rivers. The river Migasammatā flows down from the Himalaya and enters the Ganges (Jāt., VI, 72). The river Ūhā is stated in the Milinda-Pañho (p. 70) to have been located in the Himalaya. A few other mountains in the neighbourhood of the Himalaya are mentioned in the Apadāna, a Pali canonical text: Kadamba (p. 382), Kukkuta (178), Kosika, (p. 381), Gotama (p. 162), Paduma (p. 362), Bhārika (440), Lambaka (15), Vasabha (p. 166), Samaṅga (p. 437), and Sobhita (p. 328). The Himalayan mountain is the only Varṣaparvata which is placed within the geographical limits of Bhāratavarṣa. The Monghyr grant of Devapāla refers to Kedāra which is situated in the Himalayas. The Kālikāpurāṇa (Ch. 14, 31) points out that Śiva and Pārvatī went to the fall of the Mahā-Kauśikī river in the Himalaya mountain. It refers to a small river called Darpat flowing from the same mountain (Kālikā Purāṇa, 79, 3). According to the Kumārasambhava (I. 1) the excellent Himalaya mountain stands on the north of Bhāratavarṣa and it is engulfed by the sea on the east and west. The beauty of this mountain, which is a mine of various kinds of gems, is not marred by the glacier (Kumārasam. I, 3). It contains various kinds of minerals on its summit (I. 4). The sages take shelter on the sunny summits of the Himalaya (I. 5), the caves of which are covered by clouds (I. 14). The Kirātas, the wild tribe of hunters, can trace the course of the lions on this mountain, which kill elephants, although the mark of blood is washed away by the water from the ice (I. 6). The self-luminous roots and herbs give light to the Kirātas at night living with their wives in the dark caves of the Himalaya (I. 10). The chief territory of the Kirātas was among the mountains: Kailāsa, Mandāra and Haima, i.e., the region around the Mānasasarovara.¹ The Himalayan tract which is thickly covered with snow is troublesome to those who walk on it (I. 11). The rays of the sun cannot dispel darkness with which this mountain is enveloped (I. 12). The Himalaya is noted for the yak having white fur (I. 13). The nymphs, when asked, replied that they would wait for the king on the Hemakūṭa (Hemakūṭaśikhare) which is the Himalaya mountain.²