Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.380

c6.380

*Kauśikī* (Pali: Kosiki, Jāt., V. 2).—It is the modern river Kuśī, which flows into the Ganges through the district of Purnea in Behar (*Rāmāyaṇa*, Ādikāṇḍa, 34; *Varāhapurāṇa*, 140). This river is mentioned in the *Rāmāyaṇa* (Ādik., v. 8) as a great river issuing from the Himalaya. The *Bhāgavatapurāṇa* mentions this river (I. 18, 36; V. 19, 18; IX. 15, 12; X. 79, 9). It is also mentioned in the *Yoginītantra* (2/4, pp. 128-129). It seems to have largely shifted its course (Pargiter, *Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa*, p. 292, note). It appears to view under this name in the southern part of eastern Nepal as the united flow of four rivers, three of which have their origin in Tibet. This river, also known as Kośī, is probably the river Cos Soanas mentioned by Arrian in his *Indika* (Ch. IV) on the authority of Megasthenes as being one of the navigable tributaries of the Ganges. It is remarkable for the rapidity of its stream, the dangerous and uncertain nature of its bed and chiefly for its constant westerly movement, as pointed out by W. W. Hunter in his *Statistical Account of Bengal* (Purnea) 1877. In its eastward course it meets the river Karatoyā having the Atrai and the Tista for its affluents (vide F. A. Shillingford, ‘On changes in the course of the Kuśī river and the probable dangers arising from them’, published in *J.A.S.B.*, Vol. LXIV, Pt. I, 1895, pp. 1ff.). For further details, vide B. C. Law, *Geographical Essays*, I, 94-95.