- Nadistuti sukta
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The Nadistuti sukta (Sanskrit: नदिस्तुति सुक्त) ,"hymn of praise of rivers", is hymn 10.75 of the Rigveda.
It is important for the reconstruction of the geography of the Vedic civilization. Sindhu (the Indus) is addressed as the mightiest of rivers and addressed specifically in verses 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9.
In verse 5, the rishi enumerates ten rivers, beginning with the Ganges and moving westwards:
O Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Shutudri(Sutlej), Parushni (Iravati, Ravi), follow my praise! O Asikni (Chenab) Marudvridha, Vitasta (Jhelum), with the Arjikiya (Haro) and Sushoma (Sohan), listen!
verse 6 adds northwestern rivers (tributaries of the Indus flowing through Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan),
First united with the Trishtama in order to flow, with the Susartu and Rasa, and with this Svetya (you flow), O Sindhu (Indus) with the Kubha (Kabul R.) to the Gomati (Gomal), with the Mehatnu to the Krumu (Kurram), with whom you rush together on the same chariot.
Griffith (1896) in his footnote to 10.75.5, explains this arrangement as follows:
- "the poet addresses first the most distant rivers. Ganga: the Ganges is mentioned, indirectly, in only one other verse of the Rigveda, and even there, the word is said by some to be the name of a woman. See 6.45.31."
More recent interpretations take the arrangement to corresponds to the eastward expansion of the Vedic culture. At the time of the hymns composition, it had expanded as far as the Gangetic plain, and the poet looks back west to the known lands already settled. Recent linguistic reconstruction suggests that Book 6 is one of the earliest of the Rigveda, while book 10 is one of the youngest, so that it would appear that the Ganges still fell within the area of Vedic culture before the codification of the Rigveda.
The list of ten rivers in the Nadistuti sukta should not be confused with the Sapta Sindhu, the "Seven Rivers" of uncertain identification of the earlier Rigveda.
External links
Rigveda Mandalas Deities Rivers Sapta Sindhu · Nadistuti · Sarasvati · Sindhu · Sarayu · Rasā
Rishis Saptarishi (Gritsamada · Vishvamitra · Vamadeva · Atri · Angiras · Bharadvaja · Vasishta)
Categories:- Rig Veda
- Rigvedic rivers
- Vedic hymns
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