Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.100

c7.100

The famous Viṣṇupadī, the flowing water (tīrtha) of which washes away the sins of the people in the universe is the very same Gaṅgā under discussion. For many yugas (eras) this river confined itself to the heights of the sky, otherwise called Viṣṇupada. This particular spot is known as Dhruvamaṇḍala as it is here that Dhruva, son of King Uttānapāda, does, his penance. The seven sages who constantly go round and round the Dhruvamaṇḍala take their bath in this holy river. The course of the river is thus: starting from Viṣṇupada it falls on devayāna glittering with crores of vimānas and therefrom it descends on Candramaṇḍala which it submerges. It follows its course again from there dividing itself into four tributaries called Sītā, Cakṣus, Alakanandā and Bhadrā and then falls in Brahmaloka wherefrom it flows in all directions. Of the four tributaries Sītā falls on the head of Mount Meru, flows down to Gandhamādana, then circling through Bhadrāśva varṣa falls into the eastern sea. Cakṣus falls on the peaks of mount Mālyavān, flows through Ketumāla and falls into the western sea. Alakanandā falls on mount Hemakūṭa, flows through Bhārata Varṣa and falls into the southern sea. And Bhadrā falls on the head of mount Śṛṅgavān, flows through Uttarakuru and falls into the northern sea. Alakanandā flows through Bhārata Varṣa and is regarded as the most sacred of the four tributaries.