Sarayu
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The Sarayu (also Sarju; Dev. सरयु saráyu- f., later Dev. सरयू sarayū-) is an ancient river that flowed through what is now the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is often considered to be synonymous with the modern Ghaghara river or as a tributary of it.[1]
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[edit] Etymology
The name is the feminine derivative of the Sanskrit root सर् sar "to flow"; as a masculine stem, saráyu- means "air, wind", i.e. "that which is streaming").
[edit] Significance
[edit] Traditional
The river is mentioned three times in the Rigveda. The banks of the Sarayu are the location of the slaying of two Aryas at the hands of Indra in RV 4.30.18. It is listed together with Rasa, Anitabha, Kubha, Krumu and Sindhu as obstacles crossed by the Maruts in RV 5.53.9. In this verse, Purisini "carrying loose earth" appears as its epithet. At this stage of the earlier Rigveda, it is apparently a western tributary of the Indus. Finally, it is invoked together with Sindhu and Sarasvati (two of the most prominent Rigvedic rivers) in the late hymn RV 10.64. In RV 5.53.9, the river appears with the Rasa, Anitabha and Kubha River.
According to Ramayana 1.5.6, the Sarayu flowed beside the ancient city of Ayodhya, which is in the modern day Uttar Pradesh. It was a tributary of the Gogra.
The Sarayu played a vital role for the city and life of Ayodhya, and according to the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, is where Rama, the seventh Avatara of Vishnu immersed himself to return to his eternal, real Mahavishnu form, when he retired from the throne of Kosala. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna also join him, as do many devoted followers. The Sarayu is also the river upon whose banks King Rama was born.
It is also called river flown beneath the earth.
[edit] Modern
While the Sarayu river plays an important role in mythology, it is also the name of a modern river, a tributary of the Ganges which meets two other rivers at the confluence (sangam) in U.P. See modern Sarayu picture
Sarayu is also the name of the river that flows by the fictional town of Malgudi created by the Indian writer R. K. Narayan.
"Sarayu" is a character in a novel entitled "The Shack" by William P. Young (Los Angeles: Windblown Media, 2007; see www.theshackbook.com). In the novel Sarayu represents the Holy Spirit in Christian theology. The Greek word for spirit in the New Testament is "pneuma," which can also be translated "wind" or "breath." Hence the character's name "Sarayu," meaning "wind."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Keith and Macdonell. 1912. Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.
- The Ramayana, by Ramesh Menon (2001)
[edit] External links
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