Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.730

c6.730

Vipāśā.—The name of this river occurs in Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī (4. 2. 74). It is the Beas, identified with the Vipāśis or Hypasis or the Hyphasis of the Greeks, which is a tributary of the Śatadru or the Sutlej. It was in ancient times most probably an independent river. The Mahābhārata refers to the origin of this river. Vasiṣṭha, broken in heart due to the death of his sons at the hands of Viśvāmitra, wanted to kill himself. He, therefore, tied himself hand and foot and threw himself into the river, but the strong current of the river unfastened him (vi = vigata + pāśa) and saved him by throwing him on the banks. The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa refers to this river (Canto LVII, 18). The Bhāgavatapurāṇa (X. 79, 11) and the Padmapurāṇa (Uttarakhanda, vs. 35-38) also mention it. This river rises in the Pir Pañjal range at the Rhotang Pass near the source of the Rāvī. It is fed by a number of glaciers. From Chambā it flows in south-westerly direction to meet the Śatadru.