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Indus River

river in Asia

The Indus River (also called the Sindhū) is one of the longest rivers in Asia. It flows through China (western Tibet), India (Jammu and Kashmir) and Pakistan.

Quotes

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  • And here comes, between verses 825 and 835, a puzzle to all the European interpreters. Says the Titan: --
    "To these (Arimaspi and Grypes) approach not; a far border land Thou next wilt reach, where dwells a swarthy race Near the Sun's founts, where is the AEthiop "river"; Along its banks proceed till thou attain The mighty rapids, where from Bybline heights Pure draughts of sacred water Neilos sends . . . "
    There Io was ordained to found a colony for herself and sons. Now we must see how the passage is interpreted. As Io is told that she has to travel eastward till she comes to the river Ethiops, which she is to follow till it falls into the Nile -- hence the perplexity. "According to the geographical theories of the earliest Greeks" we are informed by the author of the version on "Prometheus Bound" --
    "This condition was fulfilled by the river Indus. Arrian (vi. i.) mentions that Alexander the Great, when preparing to sail down the Indus (having seen crocodiles in the river Indus, and in no other river except the Nile . . . ), seemed to himself to have discovered the sources of the Nile, as though the Nile, rising from some place in India, and flowing through much desert land, and thereby losing its name Indus, next . . . flowed through inhabited land, being now called the Nile by the Ethiopians of those parts and afterwards by the Egyptians. Virgil in the 4th Georgic echoes the absolute error" (p. 197, Vol. II.).
    Both Alexander and Virgil may have erred considerably in their geographical notions; but the prophecy of Prometheus has not so sinned, in the least -- not, at any rate, in its esoteric spirit. When a certain race is symbolised, and events pertaining to its history are rendered allegorically, no topographical accuracy ought to be expected in the itinerary traced for its personification. Yet it so happens, that the river "Ethiops" is certainly the Indus, and it is also the Nil or Nila. It is the river born on the Kailas (heaven) mountain, the mansion of the gods -- 22,000 feet above the level of the sea. It was the Ethiops river -- and was so called by the Greeks, long before the days of Alexander, because its banks, from Attock down to Sind, were peopled by tribes generally referred to as the Eastern Ethiopians. India and Egypt were two kindred nations, and the Eastern Ethiopians -- the mighty builders -- have come from India, as is pretty well proved, it is hoped, in "ISIS UNVEILED.".
    • Helena Blavatsy, Secret Doctrine, ,II, p.417
  • The Northwest has always had a negative connotation in the Vedic tradition. Thus, R. Siddhantashastree writes: “The valley of the five tributaries of the Indus had always been held as an unholy region because of its occupation by a non-Aryan tribe antagonistic to the civilized Aryans until the time of Sambarana, (...) the king of Hastinapura belonging to the Lunar dynasty. He was the first Aryan to settle in the valley after driving away the aboriginal non-Aryans to a considerable distance.”
    • R. Siddhantashastree (1978: History of the Pre-Kali-Yuga India, Delhi: Inter-India Publications, p.11), quoted in Elst, Koenraad (2018). Still no trace of an Aryan invasion: A collection on Indo-European origins.
  • He [Aristobulus] says that when he was sent on some business, he saw a tract of land deserted which contained more than a thousand cities with their villages, for the Indus, having forsaken its proper channel, turned itself into another on the left much deeper, into which it burst like a cataract, so that it no longer watered the country on the right, from which it receded, for this had been raised by the inundations not only above the level of the new channel but even above that of the new inundations... ‘India is liable to earthquakes as it becomes porous from the excess of moisture and opens into fissures, whence even the course of rivers is altered’.
    • Strabo. Strabo, Geography, book XV, I.19, tr. John W. McCrindle, Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature, 1901; reprinted Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, New Delhi, 1979, p. 25. quoted in Danino, M. (2010). The lost river : on the trail of the Sarasvatī. Penguin Books India.
  • The RV hymn X, 75, however, gives a list of names of rivers where Sarasvati is merely mentioned (verse 5) while Sindhu receives all the praise (verses 2-4 and 7-9). This may well indicate a period after the first drying up of Sarasvati (c. 3500 ) when the river lost its preeminence. It is agreed that the tenth Book of the RV is later than the others.
    • THE ṚGVEDA AND INDO-EUROPEANS Author(s): Nicholas Kazanas Source: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 80, No. 1/4 (1999), pp. 15-42
  • (It has been assumed that) the part of the Sutlej that flowed into the Sarasvati shifted to the Beas, eventually swelling the Indus’s waters: “An increase in water and sediment discharge of that magnitude [provoked by the westward shift of the Sutlej] would have had dramatic effects downstream in the Lower Indus Basin,” according to Louis Flam. This might help explain the near complete absence of Late Harappan sites in this region: they may have been either washed away or buried under sediments.
    • Flam, Louis. 1999. “The Prehistoric Indus River System and the Indus Civilization in Sindh,” Man and Environment, 24(2), p. 55.
    • quoted in ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN THE DECLINE OF THE INDUS–SARASVATI CIVILIZATION by Michel Danino, 2016
  • Thus the Sindhu, Nahr-i-Sind, Ab-i-Sind, or Indus, from the time that we possess any authentic records respecting it, was a tributary, along with the other rivers now forming the Panch Nad, or Panj Ab, of the Накта, or Wahindab, which having all united into one great river at the Dosh-i-Ab, as related by the old 'Arab and Sindí writers, formed the Mihrán of Sind, or Sind-Ságar. Lower down than this point of junction it sent off a brauch to the westwards which passed Aror, the ancient capital of Sind, on the east, which again united with the main channel above Mansüriyah, and entered the ocean sometimes by one, and sometimes by two principal mouths.

Rigveda

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  • This river with his lucid flow attracts you, more than all the streams,— Even Sindhu with his path of gold.
    • Rigveda 8.26.18
  • Indra, the mortal man well guarded by thine aid goes foremost in the wealth of horses and of kine. With amplest wealth thou fillest him, as round about the waters clearly seen afar fill Sindhu full.
    • Rigveda I.83.1, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1889)**
  • Hear, Mitra-Varuṇa, these mine invocations, hear them from all men in the hall of worship. Giver of famous gifts, kind hearer, Sindhu who gives fair fields, listen with all his waters!
    • Rigveda I.122.6, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1889)**
  • With wisdom I present these lively praises of Bhāvya dweller on the bank of Sindhu; For he, unconquered King, desiring glory, hath furnished me a thousand sacrifices.
    • Rigveda I.126.1, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1889)**
  • May the great Dragon of the Deep rejoice us: as one who nourishes her young comes Sindhu, With whom we will incite the Child of Waters whom vigorous course swift as thought bring hither.
    • Rigveda I.186.5, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1889)**
  • “Let Sindhu with his wave bedew your horses: in fiery glow have the red birds come hither. Observed of all was that your rapid going, whereby ye were the Lords of Sūrya’s Daughter.”
    • Rigveda IV.43.6, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “May the libations poured to thee thrice daily, day after day, O Savitar, bring us blessing. May Indra, Heaven, Earth, Sindhu with the Waters, Aditi with Ādityas, give us shelter.”
    • Rigveda IV.54.6, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “The Housewife Goddess, Aditi, and Sindhu, the Goddess Svasti I implore for friendship: And may the unobstructed Night and Morning both, day and night, provide for our protection.”
    • Rigveda IV.55.3, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “So let not Rasā, Krumu, or Anitabhā, Kubhā, or Sindhu hold you back. Let not the watery Sarayu obstruct your way. With us be all the bliss ye give.”
    • Rigveda V.53.9, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “Let not the Rasā {River}, the Anitabhā, the Kubhā, the Krumu, let not the Sindhu bring you to a halt. Let not the overflowing Sarayu hem you around. On us alone let your favour be.”
    • Rigveda V.53.9, as translated by Jamison & Brereton**
  • “Wherewith thou dravest forth like cars Sindhu and all the mighty floods To go the way ordained by Law, for that we long.”
    • Rigveda VIII.12.3, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “Haters of those who serve you not, bliss-bringers, bring us bliss with those auspicious aids Wherewith ye are victorious and guard Sindhu well, and succour Krivi in his need.”
  • “Maruts, who rest on fair trimmed grass, what balm soever Sindhu or Asikni hath, Or mountains or the seas contain.”
    • Rigveda VIII.20.24-25, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “And may the Sindhu of the floods, the Maruts, and the ASvin Pair, Boon Indra, and boon Viṣṇu have one mind with us.”
    • Rigveda VIII.25.14, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “This river with his lucid flow attracts you, more than all the streams, – Even Sindhu with his path of gold.”
    • Rigveda VIII.26.18, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “Soma, may we, with thee as Pavamana, pile up together all our spoil in battle. This boon vouchsafe us Varuṇa and Mitra, and Aditi and Sindhu, Earth and Heaven.”
    • Rigveda IX.97.58, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “Let the great Streams come hither with their mighty help, Sindhu, Sarasvatī, and Sarayu with waves. Ye Goddess Floods, ye Mothers, animating all, promise us water rich in fatness and in balm.”
    • Rigveda X.64.9, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “Thunder, the lightning’s daughter, Aja-Ekapād, heaven’s bearer, Sindhu, and the waters of the sea: Hear all the Gods my words, Sarasvatī give ear together with Purandhi and with Holy Thoughts.”
    • Rigveda X.65.13, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “Sindhu, the sea, the region, and the firmament, the thunder, and the ocean, Aja-Ekapād, The Dragon of the Deep, shall listen to my words, and all the Deities and Princes shall give ear.”
    • Rigveda X.66.11, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “The singer, O ye Waters in Vivasvān’s place, shall tell your grandeur forth that is beyond compare. The Rivers have come forward triply, seven and seven. Sindhu in might surpasses all the streams that flow.”
    • Rigveda X.75.1, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “His roar is lifted up to heaven above the earth: he puts forth endless vigour with a flash of light. Like floods of rain that fall in thunder from the cloud, so Sindhu rushes on bellowing like a bull.”
  • “Like mothers to their calves, like milch kine with their milk, so, Sindhu, unto thee the roaring rivers run. Thou leadest as a warrior king thine army’s wings what time thou comest in the van of these swift streams.”
    • Rigveda X.75.3-4, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “First with Tr̥ṣṭāmā thou art eager to flow forth, with Rasā, and Susartu, and with Śvetyā here, With Kubhā; and with these, Sindhu and Mehatnū, thou seekest in thy course Krumu and Gomatī.”
    • Rigveda X.75.6, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
  • “To travel first joined with the Tr̥ṣṭāmā, {then} with the Susartū, the Rasā, and this Śvetyā, you, o Sindhu, {come} with the Kubhā to the Gomatī, with the Mehatnū to the Krumu, on the same chariot {with all these}, with which you go speeding.”
    • Rigveda X.75.6, as translated by Jamison & Brereton**
  • “Flashing and whitely-gleaming in her mightiness, she moves along her ample volumes through the realms, Most active of the active, Sindhu unrestrained, like to a dappled mare, beautiful, fair to see.”
  • “Rich in good steeds is Sindhu, rich in cars and robes, rich in gold, nobly-fashioned, rich in ample wealth. Blest Silamavati and young Urnavati invest themselves with raiment rich in store of sweets.”
  • “Sindhu hath yoked her car, light-rolling, drawn by steeds, and with that car shall she win booty in this fight. So have I praised its power, mighty and unrestrained, of independent glory, roaring as it runs.”
    • Rigveda X.75.7-9, as translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith**
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