Saraswati River

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The Saraswati River (IAST: Sárasvatī-nadī́) is a deified Rigvedic river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, in the oldest texts of the Rigveda it is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India," but in the middle and late Rigvedic books, it is described as a small river ending in "a terminal lake (samudra)." As the goddess Saraswati, the other referent for the term "Saraswati" which developed into an independent identity in post-Vedic times, the river is also described as a powerful river and mighty flood. The Saraswati is also considered by Hindus to exist in a metaphysical form, in which it formed a confluence with the sacred rivers Ganga and Yamuna, at the Triveni Sangam, as described in the Puranas. According to Michael Witzel, superimposed on the Vedic Saraswati river is the "heavenly river" of the Milky Way...

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