Mānasa Sarovara is the divine lake in the high Himālaya. The Purāṇic traditions hold it to be the holiest of all mountain lakes. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa names it as the place where the Sarayū, the sacred river of Ayodhyā, was born. It is a place of divine beings, golden lotuses and white haṃsas (swans) that feed on pearls. The Varāha Purāṇa calls it sacred to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, and tells that Nārada meditated on its shore and received the Pañcarātra from Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Bhagavān Rāma also bathed here on his northern tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage), so the lake is blessed by the presence of the avatāra (incarnation).

The origin of the Sarayū

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa says plainly that Mānasa Sarovara is the birthplace of the Sarayū river. It says that from Mānasa Sarovara the Sarayū, destroyer of pāpa (sin), was born and flows south. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, in its Ayodhyā Māhātmya, also says that the Sarayū flows from the Mānasa lake in the Himālaya.

The Yātrā Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Sarga 4, gives the deeper origin. The tears of joy of Bhagavān Vishṇu, shed when the stolen Vedas were won back, fell on the Himālaya and formed the Bindu Sarovara. The arrow of Vaivasvata Manu opened the Bindu Sarovara, and its waters flowed south as the Sarayū. Both Mānasa Sarovara and Bindu Sarovara lie in the Himālayan heights. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yātrā Khaṇḍa, Sarga 9)

Description in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa describes Mānasa Sarovara in this way:

The lake is adorned with golden lotuses (svarṇa-kamala).
Thousands of haṃsas (divine swans) live here. They have red eyes, red feet and red mouths, and they feed on pearls (muktā).
The lands around are places of divine play. Devas, gandharvas, kinnaras and apsarās, with their companions, take their joy here night and day.
The whole region is a divinely beautiful land (citra-bhūmi) where only celestial beings come.

(Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yātrā Khaṇḍa, Sarga 9)

Rāma’s bath

On his northern tīrtha-yātrā, Bhagavān Rāma climbed to the Himālayan heights by the great divine path (mahāpatha). He bathed in Mānasa Sarovara, the source of the Sarayū, the sacred river of his own city. Afterwards he went down to Bindu Sarovara and then to the Sabhā of Brahmā. Bhagavān Rāma’s bath at the source of the Sarayū, high in the Himālaya, is one of the most praised moments of the northern yātrā. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yātrā Khaṇḍa, Sarga 9)

The haṃsas of the lake

The haṃsas of Mānasa Sarovara are white, with crimson eyes and feet. The haṃsa is the vehicle of Brahmā. It is said to separate milk from water, as one who knows the real tells it from the unreal.

Mānasa Sarovara in the Varāha Purāṇa

The Varāha Purāṇa calls the lake Māna-sarovara. It describes a vast, clear lake of divine origin in the celestial Himālayan range near Meru. Its waters are pure and transparent. They are fed by the snowmelt of the eternal peaks and by the blessings of the Gaṅgā. Its shores are decorated with flowering lotuses of many colours, and haṃsas glide on the water. The air is full of the scent of celestial flowers and the sound of divine music from the siddhas and gandharvas who live nearby. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 66)

Nārada’s journey and the thousand-year dhyāna

In an earlier kalpa (age of the world), Nārada came to Māna-sarovara, drawn by its fame as a place where Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa is easy to reach. The Varāha Purāṇa tells that at the shore of the lake Nārada met countless shining purushas. Each carried the śaṅkha (conch), the cakra (discus) and the padma (lotus), and each shone with fierce tejas (radiance). Nārada could not tell which of them was the supreme Vishṇu. Full of wonder and longing, he gave himself to one-pointed dhyāna (meditation) on the shore of Māna-sarovara.

After a thousand divine years of unbroken meditation, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself appeared before Nārada, pleased with his devotion. Here Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa showed him the Pañcarātra. It is the highest method of ārādhanā (worship) for those to whom the Vedic path is hard. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa declared that devotees who worship him by the Pañcarātra way will reach him. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 66)

Why the lake is held sacred

In the Varāha Purāṇa, Māna-sarovara has a special place in the sacred land. Here a thousand divine years of tapas (austerity) can pass in one meditation, and the line between the human seeker and Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa fades away. A pilgrimage to Māna-sarovara, with bathing in its waters and meditation on its shores, is said to equal the puṇya (merit) of many yajñas. The haṃsas who live here are said to be siddhas in the form of birds, always doing nāma-japa (repeating the names) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 66)

Sources

Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yātrā Khaṇḍa, Sarga 9 (the lake and Rāma’s bath), and Sarga 4 (the origin of the Sarayū from Bindu Sarovara)
Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya (the Sarayū flowing from Mānasa)
Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 66