Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c5.s2.20

c5.s2.20

The mention of a river called Śarāvatī at the eastern or south-eastern boundary of the Madhyadeśa reminds us of the well-known tradition according to which Northern India was divided by the Śarāvatī into two parts, viz. Prācya to its south-east and Udīcya to its north-west. This division was apparently known to Pāṇini and the later grammarians, while the Amarakosa gives it in clear terms. Medieval lexicons like Yādavaprakāśa’s Vaijayantī also say the same thing, but add that the Madhya-deśa stood between Prācya and Udīcya, even though the two statements are conflicting. That the identity of the Śarāvatī was gradually forgotten is clear from Sarvānanda’s commentary on the Amarakosa, according to which it ran from the North-Eastern Bhārata-varṣa to the Western Ocean (Arabian Sea). There is really no such river in India.⁶⁵