Sarayu

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The Sarayu (also Surjoo; saráyu- f., later sarayū- f., from the root sar "to flow"; As a masculine stem, saráyu- means "air, wind", i.e. "that which is streaming") was a river in ancient India.

The river is mentioned three times in the Rigveda. The banks of the Sarayu are the location of the slaying of two Aryas at the hands of Indra in 4.30.18. It is listed together with Rasa, Anitabha, Kubha, Krumu and Sindhu as obstacles crossed by the Maruts in 5.53.9. In this verse, Purisini "carrying loose earth" appears as its epithet. At this stage of the earlier Rigveda, it is apparently a western tributary of the Indus. Finally, it is invoked together with Sindhu and Sarasvati (two of the most prominent Rigvedic rivers) in the late hymn 10.64. In RV 5.53.9, the river appears with the Rasa, Anitabha and Kubha River.

According to Ramayana 1.5.6, the Sarayu was flowing beside the ancient city of Ayodhya (Awadh in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). It was a tributary of the Gogra.

The Sarayu played a vital role for the city and life of Ayodhya, and according to the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, is where Rama, the eighth Avatara of Vishnu immersed himself to return to his eternal, real Mahavishnu form, when he retired from the throne of Kosala. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna also join him, as do many devoted followers. The Sarayu is also the river upon whose banks King Rama was born.

While the Sarayu river plays an important role in mythology, it is also the name of a modern river, a tributary to the Ganges which meets two other rivers at the confluence (sangam) in U.P. See [modern Sarayu picture]

Sarayu (Sarju) is also the name of a tributary of the Gogra in Oudh.Keith and Macdonell. 1912. Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.

See also

• Saranyu
• Ramayana
• Hindu mythology

References