Sambodhi 2012 Vol 35

Author(s): J B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 72

62
Satyavrat Varma
SAMBODHI
by the sight of the linga and the touch of the fig tree, while a dip in the holy water of Samnihita confers on him the desired fruit (VP, 45. 25-26). Vena, born as a lepor, was morphed into a divine figure at the touch of the drops of water which fell on him as a dog that had perchance slipped into the Saṁnihita Sarovara and the Sarasvati river shook its body. (VP, 46. 5661).
The Mahābhārata also vouches for its great sanctity. Brahma and other gods, as also the great sages and ascetics make it a point to visit it every month. A dip in the holy Saṁnihita lake at the time of solar eclipse earns one the merit of a hundred horse - sacrifices. The waters of all the sacred tirthas, rivers and lakes flows into Samnihita every month on the Amavasyā day. A Śrāddha performed there on a solar eclipse day tantamounts to performing thousands of Aśvamedha sacrifices. A bath in it on any day also relieves one of the gravest sin.13
The Saṁnihita was a very vast lake in ancient times, but now it extends to half a Yojana only from Viśveśvara to Devavara and from Nrpāvana to Sarasvati (VP, xxii. 50-54). Gods and sages visit it to gain salvation, while others pay it homage so that they go to heaven as a result of the merit attained thereby (VP, xxii. 55). While Brahmā resorted to the Saṁnihita sarovara to contemplate the creation of the world, Visnu sustains it residing at the holy tīrtha (VP, xxii. 56). Sarasvati
Famous by itself as a holy tīrtha, the river Sarasvati forms the life - breath of Kuruksetra. The epithet Kuruksetra - pravāhini given to it in the VP is indicative of its close association with Kuruksetra and the importance it has for the region as a whole. The Sarasvati must have been a mighty river (mahānadī) in days of yore. Adjectives like saricchresthā, mahābhāgā, sanātani and nadīnām uttamā used for it reveal it beyond cavil that Sarasvati was one of the most ancient, sacred and foremost rivers of India and was revered almost like a deity (mahābhāgā) [VP, xxxii. 1-3). As detailed in the VP, the Sarasvati originated from a Plaksa tree, which might well have been the name of place instead of a tree. It is said to have entered the Dvaita forest after tearing asunder thousands of hills. It appears that the Sarasvati had to encounter a number of serious hurdles in its journey to the Dvaitavana, but it overcame them all by sheer force of its current (VP, xxxii. 1-4). The Purānic account has it that the Sarasvati had reached Kuruksetra in deference to the plea of Märakandeya. After reaching Rantuka and watering the Kuruksetra land with its powerful flow, it took a westward turn (VP, xxxiii. 1-2).