Vamana Purana — Jabali on the Banyan Tree, Shloka 61
Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna
गोमत्यां परिचिक्षेप तरङ्कुटिले जले तयापि तस्यास्तद्भाव्यं विदित्वाथ विशां पते
gomatyāṃ paricikṣepa taraṅkuṭile jale tayāpi tasyāstadbhāvyaṃ viditvātha viśāṃ pate
O lord of the people, she was cast into the Gomati, into water made crooked by waves; and that (river) too, having understood what was destined for her, then (acted accordingly).
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FAQs
Yes. The feminine pronoun ‘tayāpi’ and the verb ‘viditvā’ (having known) attribute awareness to the river, consistent with Purāṇic convention where rivers are goddesses who can protect, punish, or guide beings according to dharma and destiny.
It denotes the protagonist’s impending fate—what must unfold. The text suggests that even the river ‘knows’ the destined outcome, reinforcing the Purāṇic idea that sacred landscapes participate in cosmic order.
It is both descriptive and symbolic: physically, it conveys turbulence and danger; symbolically, it mirrors the twists of fortune and the testing nature of the tirtha-journey.