Śutudrī of Rg veda and Śatadru of Ramayana — are the names of same river in different times with different Fluvial and Fan conditions
Part 3
Description
RV 3.33 — Bharatas cross on the banks of Paruṣṇī, Vipāṭ and Śutudrī
यद॒ङ्ग त्वा॑ भर॒ताः सं॒तरे॑युर्ग॒व्यन्ग्राम॑ इषि॒त इन्द्र॑जूतः । अर्षा॒दह॑ प्रस॒वः सर्ग॑तक्त॒ आ वो॑ वृणे सुम॒तिं य॒ज्ञिया॑नाम् ॥
“Viśvāmitra speaks: (Since), rivers, (you have allowed me to cross), so may the Bharatās pass over (your united stream); may the troop desiring to cross the water, permitted (by you), and impelled by Indra, pass; then let the course appointed for your going (be resumed); I have recourse to the favour of you who are worthy of adoration.” — RV 3.33.11
RV 3.23 — Bharatās find the excellent place on the banks of Dṛṣadvati, Āpayā and Sarasvatī rivers.”
नि त्वा॑ दधे॒ वर॒ आ पृ॑थि॒व्या इळा॑यास्प॒दे सु॑दिन॒त्वे अह्ना॑म् । दृ॒षद्व॑त्यां॒ मानु॑ष आप॒यायां॒ सर॑स्वत्यां रे॒वद॑ग्ने दिदीहि ॥
“I plural ce you in an excellent spot of earth on an auspicious day of days; do you, Agni, shine on the frequent (banks) of the Dṛṣadvati, Āpayā and Sarasvatī rivers.” — Ṛṣi (sage/seer): devaśravā devavātaśca bhāratī;
Ayodhya Kanda — Book Of Ayodhya Chapter[Sarga] 71 mentions śatadrūm, i.e., Śatadru
hlādinīm dūra pārām ca pratyak srotaḥ tarangiṇīm |
śatadrūm atarat śrīmān nadīm ikṣvāku nandanaḥ || 2–71–2
Information from the previous blogs
The second part compiles all available data on what is happening in the Himalayan Frontal Thrust areas and deduces from the sediments that large river flow changes owing to crustal movements have been occurring since the Bṛhadratha era. Śutudrī takes a long time to switch to the current channel. The rivers had been through a lot of turmoil before Śutudrī became Śatadru. The Śutudrī to Śatadru story also answers the Sudasa dilemma, which I’ll discuss in the Dasarājña war paper. Dasarājña conflict and Śutudrī river system are inextricably linked. In any case, we’ll cut it short here.
In summary, we have already shown that the kings Marutta and Bharata were known to Aikṣvāku king Bṛhadratha in MAU. Ancient king Bharata, who gave away the Bharata faction, was known to Aikṣvāku king Bṛhadratha. The description of Bharatas crossing the River Vipāś and Śutudrī by Sudāsa Paijavana and Viśvāmitra paints two vivid pictures: first, Śutudrī does have a single channelled river (parallel to Vipāś), and second, Bharatas appear as a separate faction from the Purus.
Ajit Singh et al. confirmed in 2016 that the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel was a former path of the Sutlej that diverged 17,000 years ago, well before the Harappan culture. We’ve already covered how the two rivers may have been parallel, using two racing horse metaphors to confirm the presence of the older paleochannel. Then, in 2018, Aditi Krishna Dave and colleagues proposed that glacially driven rivers in that part of the interfluve region stopped flowing between 24,000 and 45,000 years ago, long before the Harappans arrived.
It is suggested that a late Pleistocene to early Holocene age limit for the Bar-Bangar upland, based on significant outwash depositions consistent with post-LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) ice sheet melting. Any normal person can conceive what I am trying to say. After 24,000 YBP, LGM times, the deglaciation occurred and the rivers began to flow freely. Due to deglaciation, which widened rivers and caused floods, the bank levels dropped following the LGM. Due to the plains’ overflowing, many tributaries began to emerge. Later, I’ll talk about how serpents that seem like stony rivers occur and are mentioned in the Rg Veda as a part of deglaciation process. For the time being, suffice it to say that the Śutudrī was changing or metamorphosing into Śatadru, with a plethora of river tributaries and channels. This confirms that the name Śatadru is a later phenomena not seen during 24,000 and 45,000 years ago and thus not mentioned in Rg veda.
(End of the three parts blog.)
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References
शत — द्रु ‘flowing in a h° (or numerous) branches’, N. of a river now called the Sutlej. It is also called शुतु-द्रि, शुतु-द्रु, शित-द्रु.
शुतुद्री — Śutudrī, twice mentioned in the Rigveda, is the name of
the most easterly river of the Panjab, the modern Sutlej, the
Zaradros of Ptolemy and Arrian. In the post-Vedic period
the name of this river appears transformed to Śatadru (‘flowing
in a hundred channels’). The Sutlej has changed its course
very considerably within historical times
