Adhyaya 57 — The Ninefold Divisions of Bharata: Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples
यमुना च शतद्रुश्च वितस्तेरावती कुहुः ।
गोमती धूतपापा च बाहुदा सदृशद्वती ॥
yamunā ca śatadruś ca vitaste rāvatī kuhuḥ / gomatī dhūtapāpā ca bāhudā sadṛśadvatī
Ferner (die Flüsse) Yamunā, Śatadru, Vitastā, Rāvatī, Kuhū, Gomatī, Dhūtapāpā, Bāhudā und Sadṛśadvatī.
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Naming rivers with epithets like Dhūtapāpā encodes the ethical idea that nature—when revered and approached with restraint—supports purification and right living.
This is ancillary Purāṇic descriptive content (tīrtha/geography), often used to contextualize dharma and pilgrimage rather than narrate creation or dynasties directly.
Multiple rivers represent multiple ‘nāḍīs’ of spiritual life: diverse paths still converge on purification when aligned with dharma.