8/8/22, 12:44 PM A Prayer to River kAverI

कावेरी प्रार्थना

मरुद्धृते महाभागे महादेवि मनोहरे ।

सर्वाभीष्टप्रदे देवि स्नास्थितां पुण्यवर्धिनि ॥ १॥

सर्वपापक्षयकरे मम पापं विनाशय ।

कवेरकन्ये कावेरि समुद्रमहिषिप्रिये ॥ २॥

देहि मे भक्तिमुक्ति त्वं सर्वतीर्थस्वरूपिणि ।

सिन्धुवर्ये दयासिन्धो मामुद्धर दयांबुधे ॥ ३॥

स्त्रियं देहि सुतं देहि श्रियं देहि ततः स्वगा ।

आयुष्यं देहि चारोग्यं ऋणान्मुक्तं कु रुष्व माम् ॥ ४॥

तासां च सरितां मध्ये सह्यकन्याघनाशिनि ।

कावेरि लोकविख्याता जनतापनिवारिणि ॥ ५॥

इति ब्रह्माण्ड पुराणे कावरी प्रार्थना ॥

These verses are in praise of river Kaveri - a sacred river flowing in

the southern peninsula of India. The river is one of the five great rivers

flowing in South India. The other four are Mahanadi, Godavari, Narmada and

Krishna. It is also the smallest of them all, being only 765 Km long. The

river is known for the scenic beauty of the regions it flows through. The

entire region it passes through is considered sacred. It has its birth

at Talakaveri at a height of 1320 feet in the Brahmagiri mountain in the

Western Ghats in Karnataka State. There is a small temple there where

people offer worship to Kaveri. After flowing through Karnataka State

the river meanders through Tamil Nadu State and empties into the Bay of

Bengal on the eastern side of the peninsula. It starts as a thin strand

of water and as it enters the plains at Bhagamandalam a small river

Gajoti joins it. Bhagamandalam is a picturesque small village at the

foothills of thickly forested mountains with the two rivers flowing through

it. It has a small temple for Shiva who has the name Bhagamandaleshvara.

Later on rivers Hemavati and LakShmana Teertham join Kaveri and it becomes

large and deep. Here the waters of the thre rivers are collected at the

Krishnaraja Sagar dam. Other tributeries that join Kaveri are Shimsha,

Hemavati, Arkavati, Kabini and Bhavani. Near Tiruchy, in Tamil Nadu, the

river branches and joins again after a couple of kilometers further forming

the island of Srirangam. Nearby we have the Grand Anicut (Dam). It is 323

mts. long and 20 mts. high and built of stones. It was built during the

2nd century AD and stands as a tribute to the expertise of the builders

of those days.

The river flows through some of the richest lands of the country and blesses

the people on its course. In return the people worship it. People of Tamil

Nadu worship thef floods with a festival called 18th day of Adi month

(July-August). They offer puja, light lamps and offer sweetmeats and,

fruits and flowers.

One may have a question as to whether it is rational to worship an inanimate

object like a river. The answer follows. Our scriptures say that it is the

one God who permiates everything. The Narayana Suktam says this clearly. It

sanskritdocuments.org says that whatever is there that is seen or heard of in the universe is
BACK TO TOP

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/kAverIstuti.html 1/7
8/8/22, 12:44 PM A Prayer to River kAverI

pervaded in and out by the Lord.

यच्च किञ्चिज्जगत्सर्वं दृश्यते श्रूयतेऽपि वा ।

अन्तर्बहिश्च तत्सर्वं व्याप्य नारायणः स्थितः ॥

Lord Krishna echos this in Gita (9-4).मया ततमिदं सर्वं

जगदव्यक्त मूर्तिना । He says that the universe is pervaded by Him -

the unseen One. So, what we see as the world is The Lord only. The very

first name in the Vishnu-sahasranama isविश्वम् = the universe. But

we see the world as made of myriad objects and do not see the God.

Why so? Krishna gives the reason too in Gita.(7-13).

त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभिः सर्वमिदं जगत् ।

मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्यः परमव्ययम् ॥

The world is deluded by His power of maya and so, does not see Him who is

beyond them. An example will provide the answer. We see an ornament -

say - a chain made of gold. We see the chain and talk about the chain

only and not the gold which really is the substance. The `chain' is not

a substance at all. There is no chain apart from gold. When we wear the

chain or handle it or lock it up in the cupboard we, in fact we are doing

all these with gold only in the garb of a chain. The `chain' is only a name

for a particular form of gold. In fact there is no such `thing' as chain! The

`chain' has its birth from gold, has its existance in gold and goes back into

gold when it is melted. Gold is the substratum or(अधिष्ठानम्). So also

is God the substratum of everything. He is known as theअधिष्ठानम् -

अधितिष्ठन्ति भूतानि उपादानकारणत्वेन ब्रह्मेति अधिष्ठानम् ।

``मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतनि” (गीता ९।४) इति भगवद्वचनात् ।

(Vishnusahasranamam - 324) A verse in Shri Bhagavatam (VIII-3-3) makes this

abundantly clear. This was said by Gajendra the elephant in praise of the

Lord who rescued him from the grip of the crocodile. He said `I take refuge

in the self-existent Being in whom the universe rests, from whom it has

sprung, by whom it it has been brought into being, who Himself constitutes

it, and who is at the same time distinct from both the cause and effect.'

यस्मिन्निदं यतश्चेदं येनेदं य इदं स्वयम् ।

योऽस्मात् परस्माच्च परस्तं प्रपद्ये स्वयम्भुवम् ॥

Taking the example of the chain, we find that it has its birth from the gold,

its existence in gold and finally goes back into gold when melted. So is

the case with everything in the universe. The lay person sees movie and

misses the screen on which it is projected though he is looking at it all

the time! To extend the logic further he sees the world and misses the Lord

behind. The `world' we see is constituted of very many objects, animate

and inanimate. But though they appear to be different and bear different
names they are all the forms and names of the one Supreme Being only. So

the Lord has the nameविश्वम् as said above. That is the reason we

have the custom of worshipping all objects. Because the worship of any

object or being is equivalent to the worship of the Lord. All animals

including the cow, the monkey and even the snake are objects of worship.

Even the `inanimate' objects such as the books, trees, mountains and rivers

are holy. There can be no such thing as a bad or evil thing.

The seers of ancient times had this grand vision. They could see through

the seuperficial layer and perceive God in everything. Krishna says

that a realised person will see only God in anything: for example

a learned righteous brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog which is

considered unclean, and also a mean outcast who eats the flesh of the

dog. Gita(5-18).

विद्या-विनय-संपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।

शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥

sanskritdocuments.org The wordसमं in this context means the Supreme Being and not `equal.'
BACK TO TOP

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/kAverIstuti.html नि र्दो षं 2/7

This is made clear by Krishna in the very next verse (5-19).निर्दोषं

हि समं ब्रह्म । The famous vedic hymn Shri Rudram salutes the Supreme

Being by addressing Him by names of various objects, both good and `not

good' according to common man's perception. There are salutations to trees,

mountains, birds, dogs etc. There are even salutations to thieves,and cheats

who are nothing but forms of God only, because there cannot be anything but

God. He is the rivers also. Rudram salutes Him asनमो नाद्याय. This

nameनाद्यः is in the Sivasahasranamam (No.684. Padmapuranam). The

commentator sayनदीगत जलरूपो नाद्यः। नमो नाद्याय चेति श्रुतिः ॥

For this reason we consider the rivers as sacred. They are not to be

polluted. Do not urinate or spit in the waters advises the vedas.नाप्सु

मूत्रपुरीषं कु र्यात्। न निष्ठीवेत् । Our pilgrimages include visiting

famous temples and also taking bath in sacred rivers like Ganaga, Kaveri,

Yamuna etc.. We have hymns in praise of these rivers. Here we have a

short hymn in praise of the sacred river Kaveri.

The river is mentioned in the vedas and puranas. The Aghamarshana

Suktam(अघमर्षणसूक्तम्) which forms part of Mahanarayanavalli

in the Taittariyopanishad is a prayer addressed to Lord Varuna - the

god of waters. This is normally chanted before taking bath.अगं =

sin.मर्षणम् = cleaning or wiping off. So, this is a prayer to Varuna

to make us free from sins. In this sukta we come across the following prayer

addressed to some famous rivers.

इमं मे गङ्गे यमुने सरस्वति शुतुद्रि स्तोमग्ं सचता परुष्णिया ।

असिक्निया मरुद्धृधे वितस्तया ऽऽजीकीये श‍ृणुह्या सुषोमया ॥

The rivers mentioned in this mantra are, Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati,

Shutudri (Sutlej), Parushni (Rabi), Asikni (Seenab), Vitasta (Jilam),

Sushoma (Sohan). The last four rivers mentioned here were flowing in the

Sind Province. In this mantra the word(मरुद्धृते) Maruddhrute

is a reference to Kaveri. In fact the hymn given in the beginning of this

article starts addressing Kaveri by this name only. The Bhagavata Purana

mentions the river more than once. It says that during his pilgrimage

Lord Balarama visited Kanchi and the sacred river Kaveri.कामकोटिपुरीं

काञ्चीं कावेरीं च सरिद्वराम् । (10-79-14). Again later on in Book

11 the sage Karabhajana, in his conversation with King Nimi talks of the

merits of Kaliyuga and says that it is in this age that great devotees of

the Lord will appear everywhere, especially in the Dravda country where

the rivers Tamaraparni, Kritamala, Payasvini, the extremely sacred Kaveri

and the great river Mahanadi which flows towards the west they will be

found in large numbers. (11-5-39).

क्वचित् क्वचिन्महाराज द्रविडेषु च भूरिशः ।

ताम्रपर्णी नदी यत्र कृ तमाला पयस्विनी ।

कावेरी च महापुण्या प्रतीची च महानदी ॥

(भविष्यन्ति नारायणपरायणाः ।)

Valmiki talks about it in his Ramayana. Sugriva sends various groups of

soldiers to search for Sita. He sends a group headed by Angada to search

in the southern direction. He gives details of places he will have to

search. At that time he describes the southern mountain range and the holy

river Kaveri as follows. He says that Angada will see the blessed heavenly

river Kaveri carrying pellucid waters and celestial nymphs sporting in the

river.

ततस्तामापगां दिव्यां प्रसन्नसलिलां शिवाम् ।

तत्र द्रक्ष्यथ कावेरीं विहृतां अप्सरोगणैः ॥

(Kishkindha Kanda -41-14).

sanskritdocuments.org Kaveri is also known as DakShin Ganga - Ganga of the South and the river's
BACK TO TOP

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/kAverIstuti.html 3/7
8/8/22, 12:44 PM A Prayer to River kAverI

water is reputed to be limpid and sweet

अहं दक्षिणगङ्गेति विश्रुता वेदमूर्धनि ।

इमां मधुरपानीयां दक्षिणापथजाह्नवीम् ॥

The Agnaeya Purana says that those who are contacted by the breeze blowing

from Kaveri get release from rebirth and reach the lotus feet of the Lord.

कावेरि त्रिजन्मानः कावेरि सलिलाप्लुता ।

कावेरि वाताद्यै स्पृष्ठा यान्ति हरेःपदम् ॥

The Brahmavaivarta Puranam defines the word Kaveri as follows.

ककारः कलुषं हन्ति, वेकारो वाञ्छितप्रदः ।

रीकारो मोक्षदो नृणां कावेरीत्यवधारय ॥

The letter ka stands for the destruction of sins, ve for the bestowal of

desires and ri for the granting of mokSha or liberation from the cyclic

births. Kaveri is also known as Kanakasarit(कनकसरित्). Kanakam

(कनकम्) means gold and sarit(सरित्) means river. The sand in the

bed of Kaveri is said to be rich in gold content. Kaveri is called Ponni

(pon = gold) in Tamil. The great acharya Shri Vedanta Desika mentions

the glory of the river in his famous work Sri Bhagavaddhyana sopanam

(verse no.2).

वेलातीत श्रुतिपरिमलं वेधसांमौलि सेव्यं

प्रादुर्भूतं कनकसरितस्सैकते हंसजुष्टे ।

लक्ष्मीभूम्योः करसरसिजैर्लालितं रङ्गभर्तुः

पादांभोज प्रतिपलतु मे भावनादीर्घिकायाम् ॥

The acharya says that the lotus feet of the Lord Ranganatha appeared on the

golden sands of Kaveri which are home to hamsas or swans. It is said that

swans do not like to stay in turbid waters.न बद्ध्नाति रतिं हंसः

कदाचित्कर्दमेऽम्भसि । The water of Kaveri is clean and have gold

content in the sands. So, the birds prefer to stay in such lovely place.

The wordहंसः also mean sanyasins of the highest order - paramahamsa

sanyasis. This means that the great sanyasis gather on the shores of Kaveri

because of its sacredness.

STORY OF THE RIVER KAVERI

There was a king by name Kavera. He was righteous and ruled his kingdom

according to the injunctions of the scriptures. He sought liberation or

mokSha and with this in mind he did severe penance. Brahma the creator

was pleased with his penanace and appeared before the king and wanted to

know his wish. The king requested Brahma to grant him mokSha. Brahma said

that this is not something which He can grant but can be attained only

by one getting spiritual wisdom or jnanam. He requested Maya Devi to

appear before them. Brahma asked Maya to be born as the king's daughter

and impart him the required knowledge. In addition Brahma told her to

become a river by name Kaveri and save all beings and also she, by another

aspect to become the wife of sage Agastya and spread spiritual wisdom.

Accordingly Maya appeared before the king Kavera as an infant. The king

was very happy at this. He took the child with him and brought it up with

loving care. After some years, the king renounced the kingdom, repaired

to the forests, performed severe penanace and attained liberation. Kaveri

wanted to serve the world in the form of a river and to achieve this

she prayed to Lord Narayana and did penance. Pleased with her devotion,

the Lord appeared before her and learned of her desire. He told her that

He will reside in a gooseberry tree in the Sahyadri hills. Brahma will

worship Him in the tree and wash His feet with the water from the river

Vraja in his conch. She should merge herself with those waters and flow in

the southern regions and sanctify that area. She will get the names Sahya

amalaka Tirtha, Shanka Tirtha and DakShina Ganga. In this period sage

sanskritdocuments.org Agasthya was performing penanace. Brahma appeared before him and advised
BACK TO TOP
https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/kAverIstuti.html 4/7
8/8/22, 12:44 PM A Prayer to River kAverI

him to get married and lead the life of a householder. At first he sage

was not agreeable to this idea. Brahma explained to him the greatness of

a householders' life and suggested that he marry His daughter Kaveri. This

will be of advantage to him and also to everyone. Agasthya was convinced

of Brahma's words and agreed to marry Kaveri. He went to the Himalayas

and met Kaveri who was performing penance there. He told her of Brahma's

advice to him. Kaveri agreed to marry the sage. She divided herself

into two forms. With the name Kaveri she entered the(कमण्डलु)

waterpot of the sage. With another body and the name(लोपामुद्रा)

Lopamudra she bowed to the sage. The gods assembled at that place. Brahma

got Lopamudra married to Agasthya as per the vedic rules. The sage

with his wife saluted to the gods assembled there. Sarasvathi Devi,

her mother, advised her in detail the duties of a householder's wife.

After the marriage Agasthya with his wife started his journey to the

south, crossed the Vindhya mountains and reached the Sahya mountains. He

kept his water pot in a place and told his desciples that he is going

to the nearby Swarnamukhi river to perform his ablutions and till his

return to look after it. At that time Brahma saw Lord Vishnu shining in

a gooseberry tree nearby. He was overjoyed. He circumambulated the tree

and washed the feet of the Lord with the water that had the essence of

all the holy waters from the conch (that represented the Gaytri mantra)

he had. The holy water grew into a stream and flowed down the mountain.

Kaveri who was staying in sage Agasthya's water pot saw this and was

filled with joy. At that time a heavenly voice addressed Kaveri and
said that the time for fulfilment of her wish is very near. ``The time

for you to reach the ocean has come. The holy autumn(शरद्) season

has come. In this season even a small gift given to a deserving person

will yield immense benefit. As the result of your severe penance this

also happens to be birth of the month of Thula (7th month of the solar

calendar). You should proceed and mingle with the holy waters that is

flowing from the worship offered by Brahma. You will be conferring great

benefit to the people of the country''. By divine will a strong wind

accompanied by heavy rain started blowing at that time. The disciples

of the sage forgot all about the sage's advice to take care of his water

pot and ran for cover. The strong wind upset the pot. Kavri flowed from

the pot, mixed with the waters in the stream and started to flow in the

southern direction. Sage Agasthya returned after finishing his ablutions

and saw what had happened. He was very happy to see Kaveri flowing down

the mountain as a river. He summoned Kaveri and blessed her. She told

the sage what all happened in his abscence and how she got mixed with

the holy waters from bathing the feet of Lord Vishnu who appeared in the

tree. Sage Agastya was pleased by the answer of Kaveri. He lauded her

and said that the Southern Peninsula will derive great benefit from her.

Then he also passed on to her some secret information he knew by his

great spiritual power.

महारहस्यं किञ्चात्र श‍ृणुष्वात्यद्भुतं शुभे ।

ब्रवीमि दिव्यदृष्ट्याद्य सर्वशास्त्रेषु निश्चितम् ॥

महापातकिनां पापं मोचयन्त्यः क्षणेन हि।

गङ्गादिका महानद्यस्तीर्थानि च महान्ति च ॥

मलीकृ ताश्च तत्पापैः अशक्तास्तद्विमोचने ।

शोचयन्त्यः परं देवं यान्ति लोकपितामहम् ॥

sanskritdocuments.org तासां विशुद्धये ब्रह्मा सभायां मुनिभिः सह ।

ग्वि र्य स्त्रे वे दे

सम्यग्विचार्य शास्त्रेषु वेदेषु च पुनः पुनः ॥

हरिणा च ततः प्रोक्तं प्रायश्चित्तं विधास्यता ।

स्नास्यन्तु सह्यधात्र्यग्रे कावेर्यां तौलिसङ्गमे ॥

The rivers like Ganga that are renowned to cleanse people who take bath

in them of their sins were polluted by the sins washed into them. They

were sad at this and approached Brahma, the Creator, to find a way to

get themselves rid of this huge load of sins dumped into them. Brahma

discussed this issue with the sages assembled in his court at that time

and looked into the scriptures also for an answer. They came across

the expiation mentioned by Shri Hari - that is they should take bath in

Kaveri in the seventh month(तुला) of solar calendar. The 66 crores

of waters from all the 14 worlds come to Kaveri at that period to wash

off their sins. They should also go to Kaveri and take bath at that time.

षट्षष्टिकोटि तीर्थानि द्विसप्त-भुवनेषु च ।

तानि चायान्ति कावेर्यां स्वाघौघ-विनिवृत्तये ॥

Such a holy river naturally attracts holy men to its banks. He said

that he as also many other sages will have residence on her banks.

अहं तु वैखानस वालखिल्यैरन्यैः मुनीन्द्रैस्सनकादिभिश्च ।

सर्वत्र ते पुण्यतटे वसामि ॥

Sage Agastya told this to Kaveri and blessed her saying that she will

confer all prosperity for those living in the southern part of the

country.

विभूत्यै दाक्षिणत्यानां क्षेमाय विजयाय च ।

मया चैवाभ्यनुज्ञाता गच्छ देवि यथासुखम् ॥

We are indeed blessed to have such sacred rivers in our country. Let

us pray to Kaveri and be cleansed of our sins. The following verse gives

a description of Kaveri devi and is suitable for meditation on Her.

अच्छ-स्वच्छ-लसद्-दुकू लवसनां पद्मासनाध्यायिनीं

हस्त-न्यस्त-वराभयाब्ज-कलशां राके न्दु-कोटि-प्रभाम् ।

भास्वद्-भूषण-गन्ध-माल्य-रुचिरां चारु-प्रसन्नाननां

श्रीगङ्गादि-समस्त-तीर्थ-निलयां ध्यायामि कावेरिकाम् ॥

The verse, roughly translated, says that I meditate on Kaveri who wears

spotlessly clean silk garments, and is seated in the Padmasana pose. She

has one palm of the hand pointing down indicating that She will grant
desires of those who seek her and another palm of the hand pointing up

indicating She will protect and grant freedom from fear. She wears shining

jewels and fine smelling garlands and has a pleasing smiling face. She is

the repository of all holy wates like Ganga.

॥ ॐ तत्सत् ॥

Encoded, proofread, and commented by N.Balasubramanian [email protected]

sanskritdocuments.org BACK TO TOP

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/kAverIstuti.html 6/7
8/8/22, 12:44 PM A Prayer to River kAverI

% Text title : kAverIstuti evaM prArthanA

% File name : kAverIstuti.itx

% itxtitle : kAverI prArthanA

% engtitle : A Prayer to River kAverI

% Category : devii, nadI, devI

% Location : doc_devii

% Sublocation : devii

% SubDeity : nadI

% Language : Sanskrit

% Subject : philosophy/hinduism/religion

% Transliterated by : N.Balasubramanian bbalu at satyam.net.in

% Proofread by : N.Balasubramanian bbalu at satyam.net.in

% Latest update : September 4, 2012

% Send corrections to : [email protected]

% Site access : https://sanskritdocuments.org

This text is prepared by volunteers and is to be used for personal study and research. The file is not to be copied or reposted for
promotion of any website or individuals or for commercial purpose without permission.
Please help to maintain respect for volunteer
spirit.

Home
Sitemap
Blog
Contributors
Volunteering
GuestBook
FAQ
Search

sanskritdocuments.org BACK TO TOP

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/kAverIstuti.html 7/7