India is uniquely blessed with a large number of perennial rivers. Sanskrit literature is replete with vivid descriptions and perspicuous portrayals of rivers in India throughout her length and breadth. The rivers in India are not regarded as merely a flowing mass of waters, but as loving, kind, benevolent, and bountiful mothers. The rivers had attracted the attention of even the Rsi-poets of the Vedas as also the authors of the Epics and the Puranas. This book deals with the rivers as they are found in Sanskrit literature. The mythology woven around them, their ritual worship, and their relationship with gods and men have been detailed. Sanskrit authors had fairly good knowledge of the rise and fall of the rivers. They compare well with the modern geographical views that are also provided in this book. This book also furnishes a large number of tirthas on the banks of the rivers as they are found in the texts. In addition, eulogies (manatmyas) and prayers (stutis) of rivers have also been mentioned with textual references.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR S.K. Lal
S.K. Lal (born 1939) completed his graduation from the Banaras Hindu University. He obtained the degree of M.A. in Hindi from the University of Bombay; M.A. in Sanskrit from the Kanpur University; and the Ph.D. in Sanskrit from the University of Pune. In addition, he has obtained the Diploma in German Language, and the Post-Graduate Diploma in Sanskrit Linguistics, both from the University of Pune, Pune. He worked as a Reader in the Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit, University of Pune, and taught Sanskrit in the Department of Sanskrit and Pali Languages, University of Pune. He taught Sanskrit and Hindi in the Universite de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris-III, France; and in the Universite de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. He delivered as an invitee a special lecture organized by the Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland, and also in the Mahacula-longkorn-rajavidyalaya University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. He has published four books: 1. Female Divinities in Hindu Mythology and Ritual, 2. Vyasa-subhasita-sangraha (text with English Translation), 3. Cikitsa (a collection of articles on Ayurveda) (edited), and 4. Rsi-Vani (Gleanings from the Vedas). He has also published over 60 papers in Indological Journals.
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