Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.196

v2.c4.s9.196

Sapta Sindhavaḥ, ‘the seven rivers,’ occur only once in the Rigveda as the designation of a definite country,¹ while elsewhere² the seven rivers themselves are meant. Max Müller³ thinks that the five streams of the Panjab, with the Indus and the Sarasvatī, are intended; others⁴ hold that the Kubhā should be substituted for the Sarasvatī, or that perhaps the Oxus⁵ must originally have been one of the seven. Zimmer⁶ is probably right in laying no stress at all on any identifications; ‘seven’ being one of the favourite numbers in the Rigveda and later.