Yavyavati

The Yavyavati is a river of ancient India, mentioned in the Rigveda (in RV 6.27.6) and in the Pancavimsa Brahmana (25.7.2). In the Pancavimsa Brahmana the river is associated with the Vibhinduka region (Kuru-Pancala region).

Witzel (1995) identifies it with the Zhob river in northern Baluchistan, while Talageri (2000) suggests that it is identical to the Drsadvati.

• The context of the reference to the two rivers in the hymn is a historic battle fought on their banks, and it is clear that they are two eastern tributaries of the Sarasvati.
• Edward Thomas, as far back as 1883, even as he was describing an invasionist scenario, recognized the two words as referring to "a tīrath in Kurukṣetra" (THOMAS 1883).
• However, the evidence shows that the two rivers are not the Zhob and Hali rivers, but eastern tributaries of the Sarasvati (present-day Ghaggar-Hakra):
• 2. The Hariyūpīyā is clearly the name of a tributary of the Sarasvati, and in fact another name for the Dṛṣadvatī: while the name Hariyūpīyā is a one-time word not found anywhere outside hymn VI.27, the Dṛṣadvatī is known in later texts (e.g. the Mahabharata III.129.7) as Raupyā= the silver-golden one. The name is clearly a derivation of the word Hariyūpīyā both phonetically (which is obvious) and meaning-wise: Witzel points out that "hari 'tawny, etc' = raupya 'golden'" (WITZEL 2000b:§7).
• 3. The Yavyāvatī, which is clearly, again, either another name for the same river or for another river extremely close besides it, since the battle takes place on the banks of both, is found mentioned in only one place outside this hymn: in a reference in the Pancavimsha Brahmana 25.7.2. Incidentally, the geographical data in this text is examined in detail by none other than Witzel in another paper, where he locates the text in the "Kuru country, near Kurukṣetra" (WITZEL 1995a), and further, in another paper later, referring in particular to the word Yavyāvatī in this text, he points out that "the river Yavyāvatī is mentioned once in the RV; it has been identified with the Zhob in E.Afghanistan. At PB 25.7.2, however, nothing points to such a W. localisation. The persons connected with it are known to have stayed in the Vibhinduka country, a part of the Kuru-Pañcāla land” (WITZEL 1987:193). [His earlier reference to the Zhob is also accompanied by a doubtful “may be” and a question mark: “may be the Zhob river in N. Baluchistan?” (WITZEL 1995b: 317)].
  • https://talageri.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-logic-of-rigvedic-geography_6.html ^[archive]

Talageri writes, Hariyūpīyā/Yavyāvatī (VI.27.5,6), [Hariyūpīyā and Yavyāvatī are alternate names of the Dṛṣadvatī and refer to "a tirath in Kurukṣetra" (THOMAS 1883): the Dṛṣadvatī is known as Raupyā in the Mahabharata, clearly a development of the Rigvedic Hariyūpīyā; and the Yavyāvatī, which is often sought, without any basis, to be identified with the Zhob river in Afghanistan, is found mentioned only once anywhere else in the whole of Vedic or Sanskrit literature, in the Panchavimsha Brahmana, about which Witzel admits: "the river Yavyāvatī is mentioned once in the RV; it has been identified with the Zhob in E. Afghanistan. At PB 25.7.2, however, nothing points to such a W. localisation. The persons connected with it are known to have stayed in the Vibhinduka country, a part of the Kuru-Pañcāla land" (WITZEL 1987:193), i.e. in Haryana to the east of the Sarasvatī]. The activities of the ancestors of Divodāsa are all located in this eastern region even in other Books: VI.27 describes a battle fought on the banks of the Hariyūpīyā/Yavyāvatī by Sṛñjaya son of Devavāta; VI.61 describes this formerly "impotent" (Vadhryaśva) father of Divodāsa worshipping on the banks of the Sarasvatī and being granted the birth of Divodāsa; III.23 describes Devaśravas, a contemporary of Sudās, or another name for Sudās himself, worshipping the eternal fire established on the banks of the Dṛṣadvatī and Āpayā (and lake Mānuṣa) by Devavāta.[1] ^[archive]

It is also possible that YavyAvatI may be another name of the Yamuna. M.L. Bhargava, in his study of Rigvedic Geography, incidentally (i.e. without making such an identification) makes the following remarks: “The old beds of the ancient DRSadvatI and the YamunA… ran very close to each other… the two rivers appear to have come close at a place about three miles southwest of ChacharaulI town, but diverged again immediately after… the YamunA… then again ran southwestwards almost parallel to the DRSadvatI, the two again coming about two miles close to each other near old Srughna……” (Talageri 2000)

References

• https://talageri.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-logic-of-rigvedic-geography_6.html ^[archive]