TheDrishadvati River (IAST:Dṛṣad-vatī, "She with many stones") is a river hypothesized byIndologists to identify the route of theVedic riverSaraswati and the state ofBrahmavarta. According toManusmriti, theBrahmavarta, where theRishis composed the Vedas and otherSanskrit texts of theVedic religion, was at the confluence of the Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers during the Vedic period.
Although the Drishadvati is mentioned several times in SanskritGranthas, a detailed description of the river is not found in other ancient literature and this has generated speculation about its source and route. TheLatyayana Srautasutra (10.17) describes it as a seasonal river, with the Saraswati a perennial river until itsvinasana (10.15-19).
The Drishadvati is mentioned in Brahmanas written primarily in the state ofBrahmavarta. According to these texts, the river originated in the pot ofBrahma:Pushkar Lake, nearAjmer. The Sarasvati, with four branches flowing in different directions, originated in the hills nearPushkar. Drishadvati was the branch flowing north. Most of theashrams of the Rishis who compiled theRigveda were on the river, between Pushkar andDhosi Hill in Brahmavarta.[3] According to the Rigveda, the Drishadvati was preferred for religious sacrifices by the Vedic people.
In theManu Smriti, the Drishadvati and the Sarasvati define the boundaries of the Vedic state ofBrahmavarta:[4] "It says that the land, created by the Gods, which lies between the two divine rivers Sarasvati and Drishadvati, the (sages) call Brahmavarta." The text also says that although the Sarasvati formed the northern boundary of Kuru Pradesh, the Drishadvati flowed in south ofKuru Pradesh and north of Brahmavarta. According to theMahabharata, the southern boundary of Kuru Pradesh wasGuruDrona's ashram (present-dayGurgaon at one end andRohtak andJhajjar at the other); therefore, the Drishadvati flowed in the southern portions of these cities. Although about 100streams flowed south to north in the 200-kilometre (120 mi)-wideAravalli Range during theVedic period, the only large river is the present-daySahibi.[5] The Sahibi has a lower flow at present because of low rainfall in its catchment area and has a wide, dry bed which carries water from the districts ofJaipur,Sikar,AlwarRewari,Jhajjar,Rohtak andDelhi inYamuna.
The Drishadvati is mentioned in the Rigveda (RV 3.23.4) with the Sarasvati and Apaya. According to theRigveda, theBrahmanas and theKalpa, Vedic sacrifices were performed on this river and on the Sarasvati. In theSrimad Bhagavatam, the Drishadvati is a transcendental river.
The Drishadvati was identified by Oldham as theChautang River,[6] and in 2000 Talageri identified it with the Hariyupiya andYavyavati Rivers. In 1871Alexander Cunningham identified the Rakshi River as the old Drishadvati and demonstrated its flow to have been fromChunar, nearVaranasi. According to the Brahman Granthas, before its confluence with the Saraswati the Drishadvati flowed from the east to west. The Saraswati flowed from north to south during the Vedic period close to Aravallies, and the Drishadvati flowed from south to north through the Aravallis from Pushkar Lake inRajasthan to Nangal Chaudhery in southernHaryana. The river then turned to reach Satnali and meet the Saraswati. After major tectonic/seismic activity in the Aravalli Range some 6500 years ago, the river Saraswati changed its course.[7]
According toPrabhat Ranjan Sarkar,[8] the Drishadvati originated in theVindya Mountains ofBaghelkhand and joined theCharmanwati. After an earthquake, it flowed north to join theSon River. Sarkar believes that the Drishadvati is theGhaghara.