Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.635

c6.635

Sarabhū (Sarayū).—The *Rāmāyaṇa* (*Ādikāṇḍa*, 14 sarga, vs. 1-2) points out that king Daśaratha performed the *Aśvamedha yajña* on the bank of this river. Many foremost Brahmins took part in it headed by Riṣyaśṛṅga. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa visited the confluence of the Sarayū and the Ganges. (*Rāmāyaṇa*, *Ādikāṇḍa*, 23 sarga, v. 5). The *Mahābhārata* (84. 70) refers to this river as Sarayū. There is a mention of the Sarayū in Pāṇini’s *Aṣṭādhyāyī* (VI, 4. 174). The *Yoginitantra* refers to it. (2/5). The *Kālikāpurāṇa* (Ch. 24. 139) mentions Sarayū as a sacred river. It is also mentioned in the *Padmapurāṇa* (*Uttarakhaṇḍa*, vs. 35-38). Kālidāsa mentions it in his *Raghuvamśa* (VIII. 95, IX. 20, XIII. 60-63, XIX. 40). This river issued forth from the Himalayas (*Milindapañha*, p. 114). It is mentioned in the *Ṛgveda* (IV. 30, 18; X. 64, 9; V. 53, 9). Citraratha and Arṇa are said to have been defeated by the Turvaśas and Yadus who crossed this river. It was the Ghagrā or Gogrā, a tributary of the Ganges, on which stood the city of Ayodhyā. It is the Sarabos of Ptolemy and is one of the five great rivers mentioned in early Buddhist texts. This river joins the Ganges in the district of Chapra, Bihar. At the north-west corner of the district of Bahraich it receives a tributary from the north-east which goes by the name of the Sarayū. The ancient city of Ayodhyā stood on this river to which the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* often refers (V. 19, 18; IX. 8, 17; X. 79, 9). According to the Rāmāyaṇa (Uttarakāṇḍa, sarga 123, v. 1) the Sarayū river is situated at a distance of half a yojana from the city of Ayodhyā. For further details, vide B. C. Law, Rivers of India, p. 22.