117.98.119.166 at 08:28, 8 June 2022

2022-06-08T08:28:53Z

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''Charmanwati''' (also spelled Charmanvati) is a river mentioned in the epic [[Mahabharata]]. It is believed that the ancient name of [[Chambal river]] was ''Charmanvati'', meaning the river on whose banks leather is dried. In due course of time, this river became famous as the river of ‘charman’ (skin) and was named as ''Charmanvati''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hydrology and water resources of India- Volume 57 of Water science and technology library - Tributaries of Yamuna river|last=Jain |first=Sharad K.|author2=Pushpendra K. Agarwal|author3=Vijay P. Singh |year=2007|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-5179-1|page=350 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKs1gBhJSWIC&dq=Yamuna+River&pg=RA1-PA345 }}</ref>

The [[Sanskrit]] epic [[Mahabharata]], refers to the Chambal river as the Charmanyavati: originating in the blood of thousands of animals and cows sacrificed by the Aryan King [[Rantideva]].<ref>
Mbh.3.207.10715
"And in days of yore, O Brahmana, two thousand animals used to be killed every day in the kitchen of king Rantideva; and in the same manner two thousand cows were killed every day."</ref>
:"So large was the number of animals sacrificed in the [[Agnihotra]] of that king that the secretions flowing from his kitchen from the heaps of skins deposited there caused a veritable river which from this circumstance, came to be called the ''Charmanwati''.<ref name="AV">
{{cite web|url=http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/mbh:charmanwati|title=charmanwati, Mbh.7.65.2817|work=Ancient Voice|publisher= Jijith Nadumuri Ravi|access-date=29 December 2010}}</ref>"

==References in Mahabharata ==

Charmanwati was the southern boundary of [[Panchala Kingdom (Mahabharata)|Panchala Kingdom]]:- King [[Drupada]] ruled the southern Panchalas up to the bank of the Charmanwati river (1:140). King Rantideva is mentioned as performing animal sacrifices on the banks of Charmanwati (7:65, 12:29, 13:66). [[Kunti]] left her new-born baby ([[Karna]]) in a basket and made it float in the river. The basket floated from the river Aswa to the river Charmanwati, and from the Charmanwati it passed to the [[Yamuna]], and so on to the [[Ganges River|Ganges]] (3:306) and reached the city called [[Champapuri]] the capital of [[Anga Kingdom]].

Marching to the banks of the Charmanwati, the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]] warrior [[Sahadeva]] met the son of king Jamvaka, who had, on account of old hostilities, been defeated before by [[Krishna in the Mahābhārata|Vasudeva Krishna]]. The son of Jamvaka gave battle to Sahadeva. And Sahadeva defeating the prince marched towards the south (2:30).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Hydrography of Uttar Pradesh}}

[[Category:Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian rivers]]

Charmanwati - Revision history

117.98.119.166 at 08:28, 8 June 2022