Ghaggar was the Ancient Sarayu River

We have suggested that Ayodhya of Lord Rama was located a Ghuram in

Patialai. If that is true, then the Sarayu River, besides which the ancient
Ayodhya was located, should also flow near Ghuram. In this post we provide
evidence from the Rig Veda to suggest that the Ghaggar River that flows near
Ghuram was the ancient Sarayu River.
Saraswati River | Indus Valley Civilization| Archaeology
The Saraswati is the most venerated river in the Rig Veda. Archaeologists often
identify her with the Sarsuti River that flows through Pehowa in Haryana and
falls into the Ghaggar in Rajasthan. This identification of the Saraswati with the
Ghaggar is the basis of identifying the civilization in North India along the
banks of the Ghaggar River in the 3rd millennium BCE as Sindhu-Saraswati
Civilization.ii
Our suggestion is that the Rig Vedic Saraswati could instead be the Saraswati
River flowing west from Pushkar and is known as Luni in her downstream
stretches in Rajasthan. Thus, we have two possibilities before us. The Rig Vedic
Saraswati could be the Sarsuti-Ghaggar in Haryana-Rajasthan or the Saraswati-
Luni in Rajasthan. We now examine whether the descriptions of the Saraswati
River in the Rig Veda match with the Sarsuti-Ghaggar or the Saraswati-Luni.
Threefold Source of Saraswati in Veda
The Rig Veda says that the Saraswati River had a “threefold” source
(6.61.12).The Sarsuti River emerges from a number of nondescript seasonal
streams that emerge between Sedhora and Chhachhrauli in the foothills of the
Shivalik Mountains. The Ghaggar River likewise emerges from a number of
seasonal hill streams above Chandigarh. There is no indication of three temples
or three holy streams at the head of either of these rivers that could suggest a
threefold source. On the other hand, the Saraswati River at Pushkar emerges
from three lakes—Budha Pushkar, Madhya Pushkar and Brahma Pushkar as
shown in Picture 1. Therefore, the Luni-Ghaggar does not match; and the
Saraswati-Luni matches with the threefold source told in the Rig Veda.
Three River Basins| Indus River| Saraswati River| Sarayu River
A hymn of the Rig Veda tells us of the Sindhu, Sarayu and Saraswati Rivers: “Let
the great streams come hither with their mighty help, Sindhu, Saraswati, and
Sarayu with waves” (10.64.9). The mention of only these three rivers indicates
that these were unique in some special way.
Our suggestion is that the Sindhu, Saraswati and Sarayu refer to three major
river basins of these rivers as shown in Figure 2. The Sindhu Basin includes the
five rivers of Punjab and the Sindhu River. The Sarayu Basin includes the rivers
of Haryana including the west-flowing Yamuna, Somb, Sarsuti, Markanda and
the Ghaggar. The Saraswati Basin includes the Sagarmati and north-flowing
rivers emerging from the Aravalli Mountains such as the Sukhadi. These three
basins could be indicated in the mention of the three rivers in the above verse.
This is important because, if Ghaggar was the Sarayu as suggest by us, then she
could not be the Saraswati River as held by many scholars.
Each of these three rivers is mentioned as a mighty river elsewhere in the Rig
Veda. The mightiness of the Sindhu needs no elaboration. The Rig Veda says
that the Saraswati burst the ridges of the hills, slayed the mountains, had a
wide tract, and was the mightiest of streams (6:61:2, 6, 8, 11, 13, and 7:96:1).
A picture of the Luni at Sanchore is given at Picture 3. Lastly, the Rig Veda
places the mightiness of the Sarayu at par with the Sindhu: “So let not… Sindhu
hold you back, Let not the watery Sarayu obstruct your way” (5.53.9). ). A
picture of the Ghaggar at Hanumangarh is given at Picture 4. We can see that
the river bed of the two rivers is similar and matches with their mightiness.
Archaeologists have not given a clear identification of the Sarayu even though
the Rig Veda speaks of it as a mighty river at par with the Sindhu. The Sarayu is
often identified with the living Ghaghara-Sarayu River of Uttar Pradesh or with
an unidentified river of the Sindhu Basin.
The River Worship Hymn of the Rig Veda
Scholars have often relied on the Nadi Stuti or River Worship Hymn to identify
the rivers of the Indus-Ghaggar Civilization. This hymn tells of the rivers in the
sequence of Ganga-Yamuna-Satluj-Ravi-Sindhu. This sequence matches with
the living rivers of these names. Ganga and Yamuna are the living rivers of
Uttar Pradesh. Satluj, Ravi and Sindhu are the rivers of these names in the
Punjab.
Now the question is why this Hymn does not mention the mighty Saraswati
and the mighty Sarayu? Any why does this hymn mention the Ganga, Yamuna,
Satluj and Ravi which are mentioned only sparingly elsewhere in the Rig Veda?
This mismatch of the River Worship Hymn with the larger body of the Rig Veda
suggests that this hymn could be a later insertion.
Scholars understand that the tenth book of the Rig Veda was composed at a
later period. The River Worship Hymn is found in this late book. On the other
hand, the descriptions of the mighty Saraswati and Sarayu Rivers are found in
the Sixth and Fifth Books. The threefold source of the Saraswati is also
mentioned in the Sixth Book. Therefore, these references in the early books
are more credible than the River Worship Hymn found in the Tenth Book. For
this reason we rely on the descriptions of the “threefold source” and “Sindhu-
Saraswati-Sarayu” and ignore the River Worship hymn.
The Land of Bharata| India?
Another reason for the identification of the Rig Vedic Saraswati with the
Saraswati-Luni is the location of the ancient land of Bharata near her.
The living tradition holds that Lord Brahma undertook creation at Pushkar. The
texts say that Lord Brahma undertook creation at Meru. These two statements
read together mean that Pushkar was the ancient Mount Meru.
The Vayu Purana (34:46-96) and Bhagwata Purana (5:16:9) say that the land
south of Meru was known as “Bharata.” Therefore, the land south of Pushkar
would be the ancient land of Bharata.
Now we put the above two statements together. The Rig Veda tells of the clan
of Bharata and, one verse later, tells of the Saraswati and Drishadvati Rivers
(3:23:2-4). This suggests that the Saraswati River was connected with the land
of Bharata; which was located south of Meru according to the Vayu Purana and
Bhagwata Purana; which is identified with the seat of creation at Pushkar on the
basis of living tradition of Lord Brahma having undertaken creation at Meru.
Thus, the connection of the Rig Vedic Saraswati with the Saraswati-Luni flowing
from Pushkar is again established.
Archaeology and Living Traditions
We acknowledge that archaeological evidence for habitation in the 4th
millennium BCE when the events of the Rig Veda may have taken place is
available both in the Ghaggar and Luni Basins. The Ghaggar and the Luni are
both mighty rivers as told in the Rig Veda. The upper sections of both these
rivers are known as Sarsuti or Saraswati. These descriptions match equally with
the Saraswati-Luni and the Sarasuti-Ghaggar and it is not possible to identify
the Rig Vedic Saraswati River on these considerations.
Saraswati River over time |Harappan Civilization| Mahabharata| Ganges Basin
Our study suggests that the events of the Rig Veda may have taken place in the
4th millennium BCE. The events of the Mahabharata may have taken place
around 1500 BCE.iii The people of the Indus Valley migrated to the Ganga Basin
sometime after the Mahabharata. Therefore, it is plausible that the name
“Saraswati” was given to three different rivers at these different time periods.
The Rig Vedic Saraswati in the 4th millennium BCE could be the Saraswati-Luni
at Pushkar. The Saraswati of the Mahabharata around 1500 BCE could be the
Sarsuti-Ghaggar in Haryana. Thus the descriptions of the Saraswati in the
travels of Balarama match with this river. And, lastly, the post-Mahabharata
Saraswati could be the Saraswati River that is said to flow invisible at
Allahabad.
Luni | Rig Veda | Saraswati River
We suggest that the Rig Vedic Saraswati River was the Saraswati-Luni on three
grounds. One, the threefold source of the Saraswati matches with the three
lakes at Pushkar. The Sarsuti-Ghaggar does not have a distinct threefold
source.
Two, the mention of the Saraswati along with the Sindhu and Sarayu matches
with the Luni constituting a separate river basin like the other two rivers. We
are not able to identify the Sarayu Basin if we identify the Ghaggar as the Rig
Vedic Saraswati.
Three, the mention of the land of Bharata located in the region of the
Saraswati and near Pushkar matches with the Saraswati-Luni. The area south
of Sarsuti-Ghaggar cannot be identified with the land of Bharata which extends
to the larger Indian Subcontinent.
It follows that the Sarayu River, besides which the ancient Ayodhya was
located, was the Ghaggar River that flows near Ghuram and Lord Rama’s
Ayodhya could be located here.
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i
=13
ii
=2
iii
=5