Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1194

c8.1194

NALINĪ. A branch of the Gaṅgā. When the heavenly Gaṅgā came down to the earth as a result of the penance of Bhagīratha, Śiva received it on his head. It is seen in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Sarga 43, that when the Gaṅgā fell drown from the head of Śiva it split into seven river-arms called Hlādinī, Pāvanī, Nalinī, Sucakṣus, Sītā, Sindhu and Gaṅgā. The Ganges which flows through North India is one of these seven river-arms.