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169:. In the midst of a conversation, Saraswati observed that Ganga playfully kept glancing at Vishnu, behind Lakshmi and her back. Frustrated, Saraswati launched a furious tirade against Ganga, accusing her of stealing Vishnu's love away from her. When Ganga appealed to her husband to help her, he opted to remain neutral, not wishing to participate in a quarrel between his three wives, whom he loved equally. When Lakshmi attempted to soothe Saraswati's anger by reasoning with her, the jealous goddess grew angry with her as well, accusing her of disloyalty towards her. She cursed Lakshmi to be born as the
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442:, and had gained the boon of a bottomless grain-supplying well. His foes led a cow into the granary, which Gautama started to pursue. The cow is described to have fallen dead during the chase. To expiate the sin of having caused the death of a sacred creature, Gautama propitiated the goddess Ganga to descend upon his hermitage and cleanse it. She acquiesced, descending upon the land as the goddess Godavari, along with Shiva.
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river. She is also known as Reva. According to popular tradition, she is said to have been born from the sweat of Shiva, who had been performing a penance on Mount Riksha. Hence, she is regarded to be the deity's daughter. According to one legend, she is said to have been blessed by Shiva to possess
201:
to help. Bhagiratha performed another penance to propitiate the destroyer deity, and Shiva agreed to lend his assistance. When Ganga descended upon the earth, Shiva captured her waters in his matted hair, and released her gently upon the earth. Heeding
Bhagiratha's request, she flowed to Patala to
173:
plant upon the earth. Ganga, now enraged that
Lakshmi had been cursed because she had defended her, cursed Saraswati that she would be incarnated as a river on earth. Saraswati issued the same curse against Ganga, informing her that sinful men would cleanse themselves of their sins with her water.
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wished Kaveri to marry him, she agreed, but on the condition that she would leave him if he were to ever leave her alone for too long. Agastya agreed, but one day, too occupied with his disciples, he did leave her on her lonesome for a substantial period of time. Kaveri flowed into the sage's
466:, participated in the ceremony in her place. Savitri rushed to the spot when she heard the chanting of mantras, and demanded to know why Gayatri had taken her place. She directed her fury at Vishnu and Shiva, transforming the former into the Krishna river.
404:
as his adopted daughter after this event. When King Kavera propitiated Brahma for a child, the deity blessed him with
Lopamudra, with the patronymic Kaveri, as his daughter, so that she would rid people of their sins and usher in fertility. When the sage
252:
once wished to sport with some women in the Yamuna river. When he beckoned the goddess Yamuna to come to him, she refused to shift from her banks. Hence, Balarama used his plough, and forcibly dragged the river goddess to the orchard where he stood.
325:. Saraswati continued her journey towards the ocean, and stopped once at Pushkarini, where she redeemed humans from their sins. At last, she reached the end of her journey, and immersed the fire into the ocean.
298:
visited
Saraswati, requesting her to deposit the fire in the western ocean, in order to protect the universe. Saraswati told Vishnu that she would only agree to assist them if her consort,
486:
is described to have been offered veneration by this goddess. She is also described to have attended a discussion of river goddesses regarding the duties of women, presided over by
275:, regarded to be the goddess of knowledge, music, speech, and art. The Sarasvati river is mentioned in the Rigveda, and is believed to have dried up through the course of time.
197:, the netherworld. She informed him that her descent would be powerful enough to flood the earth were she to directly land upon its ground, and hence told him to request
193:, is stated to have performed a penance to propitiate Ganga, and urged her to descend upon earth from Svarga to liberate his ancestors' spirits, who had perished in
414:, and soon coursed southwards. Despite the attempts of her husband's disciples to stop her, she flowed into the ocean, and is regarded to be sacred ever since.
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536:
blessed the couple with his own child in the latter's womb. After his birth, the child took the form of a river, where deities and apsaras would bathe.
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532:. According to this text, impressed by the piety of a sage named Shantanu and his wife, Amogha, who resided along the banks of the river Lohita,
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the ability to destroy the sins of all those who bathe in her waters, and become as sacred in the south as Ganga was in the north.
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140:. She is the goddess of purity and purification, as people believe that bathing in the Ganges removes sins and helps in gaining
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302:, told her to do so. Brahma ordered her to deposit the Vadavagni in the western ocean. Saraswati agreed, and accompanied by
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tree. Saraswati merged with the tree, and transformed into a river. From there, she flowed towards
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The goddess
Saraswati was originally represented as a river goddess, the goddess of the eponymous
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The goddess Kaveri, also known locally as
Kaveramme, is the personification of the river
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51:, which is considered to be male. The most significant rivers in the faith are the
47:. Most of the rivers are represented in female form, with the notable exception of
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describes Ganga as originally being one of the three wives of Vishnu, along with
659:"On the coming in this world of Lakṣmī, Gaṅgā and Sarasvatī [Chapter 6]"
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Literally translated as the, 'son of Brahma', the legendary origin of the river
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and the younger sister of
Savitri, she is married to a king named Samvarana in
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In some texts, it is written that once there was a terrible battle between the
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to be the most sacred river. In some legends, the goddess Ganga is daughter of
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named
Lopamudra to assist Mohini in this endeavour. Lopamudra was raised by
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244:, another river goddess. In later texts, she is known as Kalindi. In the
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ritually cleanse his ancestors' spirits, and then flowed into the ocean.
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is considered to be most sacred, and is also personified as the goddess
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river. She later developed into one of the principal goddesses in
248:, in a legend that is associated with canal irrigation, the deity
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236:, the cloud goddess. She is the goddess of life, and the twin of
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458:, and the presence of his wife was required by a priest. Since
932:. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. pp. 82–83.
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was born, which had the potential to destroy the whole world.
1114:
764:
The
Goddess in India: The Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine
454:. According to a local legend, Brahma was once performing a
885:
Padma Purana Part 1 Srishti Khanda Motilal Banarsidass 1988
462:, the first wife of the deity was absent, his second wife,
985:. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 77.
220:
5th-century terracotta sculpture of Yamuna with attendants
955:
The Ramayana and Mahabharata Condensed into English Verse
450:
The goddess Krishna is the personification of the river
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river. The river Godavari is strongly associated with
1117:. W. & R. Chambers, Limited. 1901. p. 387.
422:The goddess Godavari is the personification of the
504:Tapati refers to the personification of the river
474:Sindhu refers to the personification of the river
339:The goddess Narmada is the personification of the
240:, the god of the underworld. Her other sibling is
31:, rivers are often personified as deities. In the
430:, who is said to have traversed its banks in the
177:A prominent legend of Ganga is her descent from
35:, there are mentions of holy rivers such as the
958:. Courier Corporation. 2012-08-02. p. 77.
813:General, India Office of the Registrar (1965).
224:Yamuna, or Yami, is the personification of the
1134:. Penguin Random House India Private Limited.
1088:Delphi Collected Sanskrit Epics (Illustrated)
833:The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvatī
286:, and from this an all-consuming fire called
8:
736:Seshadri, Lakshmi (1975). Pai, Anant (ed.).
136:). She is the sister of the mother goddess,
789:"Bringing back the ancient Saraswati river"
306:, she left Brahmaloka, and arrived at Sage
1036:Rivers of Rgveda: A Geographic Exploration
228:river. She is described to be daughter of
95:Sculpture of the goddess Ganga, Sri Lanka.
556:Wetlands and islands in Germanic paganism
1006:Balasubramanian, Lalitha (2017-08-30).
715:. Penguin Books India. pp. 67–71.
567:
356:Statue of the goddess Kaveri, Madikeri.
335:Narmada § Significance in Hinduism
20:Statue of the goddess Saraswati, Nepal.
1009:Temples in Maharashtra: A Travel Guide
740:. Amar Chitra Katha private limited.
376:assumed his ravishing female form of
146:. Her mount is a creature called the
7:
1033:Ravi, Jijith Nadumuri (2022-01-31).
767:. Simon and Schuster. p. 92.
682:Williams, George M. (2008-03-27).
576:"River Goddesses | Mahavidya"
508:. Described to be the daughter of
14:
1091:. Delphi Classics. p. 2525.
761:Pattanaik, Devdutt (2000-09-01).
1128:Krishna, Nanditha (2017-12-26).
1062:"Sindhu, Simdhu: 44 definitions"
1060:www.wisdomlib.org (2009-04-12).
979:Krishna, Nanditha (2017-12-26).
926:Krishna, Nanditha (2017-12-26).
857:www.wisdomlib.org (2019-01-28).
657:www.wisdomlib.org (2013-05-15).
434:. According to legend, the sage
905:. Harmony/Rodale. p. 172.
633:Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide
609:. Harmony/Rodale. p. 166.
882:N. A. Deshpande (1988-01-01).
816:Census of India, 1961: Gujarat
1:
1085:Valmiki; Vyasa (2018-05-19).
1012:. Notion Press. p. 146.
1039:. Notion Press. p. 63.
899:Eck, Diana L. (2012-03-27).
709:Sharma, Bulbul (June 2010).
630:Dalal, Roshen (2014-04-18).
603:Eck, Diana L. (2012-03-27).
368:, during the episode of the
126:(the personification of the
685:Handbook of Hindu Mythology
24:Rivers featured in Hinduism
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819:. Manager of Publications.
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332:
260:
209:
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902:India: A Sacred Geography
606:India: A Sacred Geography
688:. OUP USA. p. 137.
1162:Sea and river goddesses
836:. Penguin Books India.
830:Danino, Michel (2010).
55:and which includes the
382:elixir of eternal life
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221:
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21:
388:, and deny it to the
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219:
159:Devi Bhagavata Purana
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19:
859:"Story of Sarasvatī"
181:, the heaven of the
1131:Hinduism and Nature
982:Hinduism and Nature
929:Hinduism and Nature
528:is featured in the
364:. According to the
232:, the sun god, and
130:) and Menavati (an
1172:Water and Hinduism
358:
294:, Vishnu, and the
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212:Yamuna in Hinduism
118:mention the river
97:
22:
1141:978-93-87326-54-5
1098:978-1-78656-128-2
1066:www.wisdomlib.org
1046:979-8-88530-308-8
1019:978-1-947697-88-1
992:978-93-87326-54-5
965:978-0-486-14352-1
939:978-93-87326-54-5
912:978-0-385-53191-7
863:www.wisdomlib.org
843:978-0-14-306864-8
774:978-1-59477-537-6
722:978-0-14-306766-5
695:978-0-19-533261-2
663:www.wisdomlib.org
643:978-81-8475-277-9
616:978-0-385-53191-7
592:. March 29, 2017.
313:. There, she met
106:Ganga in Hinduism
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520:Brahmaputra
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480:Mahabharata
49:Brahmaputra
1156:Categories
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868:2022-10-21
799:2021-02-19
668:2022-10-21
562:References
412:kamandalam
396:, sent an
187:Bhagiratha
551:Theertham
308:Uttanka's
288:Vadavagni
280:Bhargavas
269:Sarasvati
263:Saraswati
257:Saraswati
167:Saraswati
128:Himalayas
53:Saptanadi
37:Sarasvati
540:See also
432:Ramayana
424:Godavari
418:Godavari
323:Pushkara
273:Hinduism
250:Balarama
73:Godavari
29:Hinduism
488:Parvati
484:Bharata
464:Gayatri
460:Savitri
452:Krishna
446:Krishna
436:Gautama
407:Agastya
394:Lakshmi
384:to the
341:Narmada
329:Narmada
319:plaksha
311:ashrama
284:Hehayas
234:Saranyu
163:Lakshmi
138:Parvati
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179:Svarga
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79:, and
65:Sindhu
61:Yamuna
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315:Shiva
304:Ganga
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292:Indra
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199:Shiva
183:devas
112:Vedas
100:Ganga
45:Ganga
1136:ISBN
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