Tag: Cholas Ikshvaku

It is always a great pleasure to delve into ancient Tamil literature and study it in conjunction with Purana Ithihasa,Ramayana and Mahabharata.And to check them against Landmasses and River bodies is exhilarating.

I have been writing on the antiquity of Sanatana Dharma,Tamil and their intricate relationship. Each supplements the other.One finds references to Tamil,Tamils,Tamil land in Puran,Vedas and Ithihasas, Ramayana.They also talk about geography of Bharatvarsh and it’s flora and fauna.And waterbodies.The daily ritual of Sandhya vandhana of Hindus,Sun Worship, mention Seven Holy rivers.They are

• Ganga
• Yamuna
• Godavari
• Saraswati
• Narmada
• Sindhu
• Kaveri

‘ Gange cha Yamuneschaiva, Godavari Saraswati; Narmadhe Sindhu Kaveri Jalesmin Sannithim kuru’

River Kaveri which flows South of Vindhyas from Karnataka through Tamil Nadu is mentioned in early texts .Kaveri is considered as holy as Ganga.It is considered so holy that the Chola kings built over 100 temples on it’s banks. The first temple of Vishnu on the banks of Kaveri begins at Srirangapatna in Karnataka and the last Vishnu temple on the banks of Kaveri before Kaveri joins the sea at Poompuhar, is Srirangam.There is a saying in Tamil that Kaveri worships Renga,Vishnu wherever she goes.Kavei is inseparable from Tamil Culture.Sanskrit texts also as I said earlier,venerate Kaveri as Holy.

सर्वपापक्षयकरे मम पापं विनाशय ।
कवेरकन्ये कावेरि समुद्रमहिषिप्रिये ‘ Kaverikanya(Kaveri) is very holy and is considered as beloved of Ocean’s Beloved.( Varuni is the consort of Varuna,Ocean)

The origin of Kaveri river is associated with Sage Agastya and it was brought to earth by him.We find references to Agastya ,apart from references to him in Puran, Vedas,is mentioned in Vedas. He imparted Adhitya Hruday stotra to Sri Rama to shrug of his depression when Lakshmana was felled by Ravana’s Mohanastra. Agastya is reported to have come down south . This time frame is validated by Star Canopus, Agastya Nakshatra visibility in the southern hemisphere.And Ramayana lists over Thirty Rivers. List provided here below from research paper. I recommend readers to visit the site,( link provided in this article) and read a well researched study.

Table 1: River of Kritibasi Ramayana Epic

SL. No.

Name of the river

Page no.

Frequency of river in Ramayana Sloka

1

Ganga

50, 56, 57, 103, 103, 103, 152, 153, 164, 233, 238, 454, 524, 567, 567, 580, 599, 599, 600, 626, 646, 654, 654

23

2

Aghrinja

53

1

3

Mandakini

54

1

4

Jahnabi

54, 152, 502, 654

4

5

Basu

55

1

6

Bhadra

55

1

7

Shweta

55

1

8

Alakananda

54

1

9

Bhagirathi

238, 526, 567, 629

4

10

Koushiki

239

1

11

Bhogbati

454

1

12

Saryu

51, 88, 109, 119, 119, 155, 163, 233, 511, 651, 652, 654

16

13

Suradhani

56

1

14

Padma

58

1

15

Pravash Tir

59, 60, 261, 597

4

16

Narmada

81, 83, 235, 260, 261, 549, 549

7

17

Tamasha

151, 151, 151, 585

4

18

Gomti

151, 178, 233, 504, 506

5

19

Yamuna

87, 153, 154, 155, 164, 502, 594, 595, 602, 602, 602, 605, 624, 638

13

20

Balarenu nadi

157

1

21

Phalgu

170

1

22

Godabari

181, 182, 182, 200, 201, 235

6

23

Pampa

223

1

24

Saraswati

223

1

25

Krishna

235

1

26

#Kaberi

*235, 236

2

27

Triyojan Nadi

234

1

28

Sindhu

236, 263, 511, 625, 620, 620

6

29

Bimala

239

1

30

Punyada

240

1

31

Nadipati

265

1

32

Kharatara Nadi

438, 447

2

33

Maya Nadi

463

1

34

Kunti Nadi

501

1

35

East sea

49, 512

2

36

North sea

49, 512

2

37

West sea

49,512

2

38

South sea

512
Aspects of Flows of the Rivers Mentioned in the Indian Epic Ramayana. 
1

https://rjhssonline.com/HTMLPaper.aspx?Journal=Research%20Journal%20of%20Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences;PID=2018-9-4-21https://rjhssonline.com/HTMLPaper.aspx?Journal=Research%20Journal%20of%20Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences;PID=2018-9-4-21

Now was Kaveri brought down to earth like Ganga was by Bhagirath, ancestor of Sri. Rama?Answer is Yes. It was King Chitradhanvan, of Ikshvaku) Chola Dynasty. Chitradhanvan’ s great grandson was the last King in Treta Yuga.’His son was Narendrapati who became king at the end of the Treta age.  His son was king Vasu entitled Uparichara on account of his having received a celestial car from Indra by which he moved about in all directions (v. 39).  https://ramanisblog.in/2020/08/07/chola-kings-list-treta-yuga-ikshvaku-tamil-copper-plates-evidence/

One must remember that Cholas belong to Ikshvaku Dynasty.

https://ramanisblog.in/2017/07/06/rama-family-tree-from-manu-confirmed-by-genome-studies/

Cholavarman was the King who founded the Chola Dynasty in South ( Cholas had their Kingdom in North of Vindhyas too.Sivi, Muchukunda,among others ruled from there). Cholavarman was the grandson of Dushyant and son of Bharath‘. Bharat varsh is named after Bharat.

Cholavarman’s son was Rajakesarivarman and Rajakesarin’s son was Parakesarin (vv. 30 and 31).  These two names were used as titles alternately by the Chola kings in the order of their coronation (v. 32).  Parakesarin’s son was Chitraratha; his son was Chitrasva and his son, Chitradhanvan (v. 33).  It is stated that this last king Chitradhanvan brought into his dominions the river Kaverakanyaka, i.e., Kaveri, just as Bhagiratha brought into the earth Ganga, the river of the gods (v. 35).  In that family was born Suraguru entitled Mrityujit (v. 36).  In his family was born Chitraratha who bore the title Vyaghraketu after his banner on which was the figure of a tiger.

Thiruvalankadu Copperplates

Kings after Muchukunda Chozha.

Mandhata
Muchukunda
Valabha
Prithulaksha
Parthivachudamani
Dirghabahu
Chandrajit
Sankriti
Panchapa
Satyavrata
Rudrajit
Sibi
Marutta
Dushyanta
Bharata
Cholavarman
Rajakesarivarman
Parakesarin
Chitraratha
Chitrasva
Chitradhanvan

Genealogy from Chola Inscriptions