History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.229

v7.c91.229

Both the Bhāgavata and the Padma say that¹⁶⁰⁴ (the cult of) bhakti first arose in Draviḍa country, it progressed or prospered in the Karnāṭaka, it was found in only a few places in Mahārāṣṭra and declined in the Gurjara country; it was, on account of the terrible Kaliyuga, broken up by heresies and remained weak for a long time, but having reached Vṛndāvana (near Mathurā) it got a fresh start and assumed fine form. In book XI. the Bhāgavata again reverts to this assertion that in Kali people are solely devoted to Nārāyaṇa only in a few places but to the greatest extent in the Draviḍa country where flow the rivers Tāmraparṇī, Kṛtamālā, Kāverī and Mahānadī flowing to the west and states that those who drink the waters of these rivers are generally devotees of Vāsudeva.