The Svarṇamukhī is a sacred river that flows near Veṅkaṭādri in the south. It began from the tapas (austerity) of the ṛshi Agastya, and it took form from a portion of the divine Gaṅgā, sent at the command of Brahmā. It flows from the mountain Agastya-śaila to the southern ocean and feeds the land along Veṅkaṭādri.

Bharadvāja tells the origin of the river to Arjuna in Chapters 31 to 33 of the Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya. The river and its tīrthas are described across Chapters 29 to 35.

Origin of the river

Agastya is sent south

When Bhagavān Śiva was about to marry Pārvatī at Oshadhīprastha, in the Himālaya, all beings of the three worlds came to see the wedding. Their weight made the earth tilt. The northern half, where all the creatures had gathered, sank toward pātāla, and the south, empty of beings, rose up. Fear spread because of this.

Bhagavān Maheśvara turned to Agastya and asked him to set the earth right by going south. He said: “Only you are fit for this. I will show you the form of Pārvatī and myself at the wedding once you have made your home there.” Agastya bowed to Bhagavān Śiva and went south. As he crossed the Vindhya and went on, the earth came back into balance. (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 31)

Agastya settles on Agastya-śaila

Going south, Agastya found a great mountain. It rose high enough to touch the sky and was full of healing herbs and precious gems, as if Brahmā had stored all his treasures there. He climbed it and found a fair lake with pure, sweet water, ringed by trees. He built his āśrama there and did all the vāstu rites. He settled there with many ṛshis. Because he lived there, the mountain became famous as Agastya-śaila. (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 31)

The voice from the sky and the gift of Brahmā

One morning Agastya finished his āhnika (daily rites) and was about to enter the deva-mandira (shrine) for the pūjā of Bhagavān Śiva. An ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) spoke: “This place is famous, yet it shines without brightness. A land without a river is like a brahmin who refuses jñāna, or a dīkshā without dakshiṇā, or a night without moonlight. Bring a river here for the good of all the worlds. Take away the fear of great pāpas. Help the devas, the ṛshis and humankind.”

Agastya told this to the ṛshis gathered there, and they agreed gladly. He then decided to bring a river and began hard tapas. In summer he sat among five fires with the sun above him. In the rains he stood in the downpour with no cover. In winter he stood in cold water up to his neck. As his tapas grew, fire came out of every pore of his body and filled the sky with flames. All the worlds were afraid. The devas went to Brahmā in alarm. Brahmā came down to the āśrama and offered Agastya any vara (boon). Agastya asked for a river. (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 32)

Brahmā called the divine Gaṅgā to his mind, and she came before him. He commanded her: “Send a portion of yourself to the earth, to fulfil Agastya’s wish and to purify all beings.” Gaṅgā agreed and let go a portion (aṃśa) of herself in the form of a divine woman. This portion asked Agastya which path to follow. He said that he would walk ahead and she should follow. He led her down the mountain, across forests and plains, and toward the sea.

By the command of Brahmā, Vāyu told her name to all: “Because Agastya brought her here as a golden treasure (svarṇa is gold, mukhī is arising from), and because she will give moksha, her name is Svarṇamukhī.” (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 33)

Course and tributaries

From Agastya-śaila the Svarṇamukhī flows south and then east. It passes through forests, mountains and plains until it reaches the southern ocean. Several sacred rivers join it on the way:

Veṇā river. It joins from the north. A bath at the meeting of the rivers gives the puṇya (merit) of ten aśvamedhas.
Vyāghrapada river (also called Vyānupada). It joins from the east. Near its meeting with the Svarṇamukhī is Śaṅkha Tīrtha, where the ṛshi Śaṅkhu set up a Śambheśvara Śiva-liṅga.
Kalyā river. It rises at Vṛshabhādri and joins the Svarṇamukhī at a meeting marked by a Brahmaśilā, where Agastya once did tapas. A bath here equals a bath at Gayā and gives the puṇya of one hundred pauṇḍarīka yāgas.

Veṅkaṭādri itself rises on the north bank of the Svarṇamukhī, about half a yojana from the meeting with the Kalyā. Its seven peaks are Añjanādri, Śeshādri, Vṛshabhādri, Nīlādri, Siṃhādri, Varāhādri and Veṅkaṭādri. All are part of this one sacred mountain. Nārāyaṇavana and Veṅkaṭavana are named as its sacred groves. (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 34–35)

Tīrthas along the river

Chapter 34 lists the main tīrthas along the Svarṇamukhī.

Agastya Tīrtha. This is the place on the Svarṇamukhī where Agastya first settled. An Agasteśvara Śiva-liṅga stands here. A bath here at Uttarāyaṇa saṃkrānti, and darśana of Agasteśvara, give the puṇya of one thousand agnishṭomas and one hundred vājapeyas.

Deva, Ṛshi and Pitṛ Tīrthas. These three tīrthas lie to the north-east of Agastya Tīrtha. They are named for the three debts: pitṛ-ṛṇa, ṛshi-ṛṇa and deva-ṛṇa. Tarpaṇa (the offering of water) done here frees a person from all three debts.

Agasteśvara Śiva-liṅga at the eastern bend. A second Agasteśvara liṅga stands where the Svarṇamukhī turns east. A bath here makes the pāpas of earlier births vanish completely.

Śaṅkha Tīrtha at the Vyāghrapada meeting. Near the meeting with the Vyāghrapada river, Śaṅkha Tīrtha has a Śambheśvara Śiva-liṅga set up by the ṛshi Śaṅkhu. A bath and darśana here give the puṇya of ten aśvamedhas.

Glory of the river

Chapter 33 praises the Svarṇamukhī with many comparisons. Among devas it is Vishṇu, among stars the moon, among humans the king, among trees the kalpavṛksha, among the five elements ākāśa, among powers māyā, among mantras the praṇava, among tattvas the Ātman, among the Yajus mantras the Rudrādhyāya, among serpents Ādiśesha, among kshetras Pushkara. As each of these is first in its kind, so is the Svarṇamukhī among rivers.

It gives these phalaśrutis (promises of fruit):

A person who only remembers the Svarṇamukhī, even from thousands of yojanas away, has all his pāpas (sins) destroyed.
Ashes placed in it bring the dead person to Brahmaloka.
Those who eat food grown with its water are cleansed of pāpas, even those done through the mouth.
Indra and the devas wish to be born as humans so that they may drink its water.

(Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 33)

Agastya and Śaṅkhu see Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa at Veṅkaṭādri

In Chapters 37 and 38, two people were given the darśana of Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa at Veṅkaṭādri at the same time. One was Agastya, who had been doing tapas on the mountain for a thousand years at Brahmā’s direction. The other was the king Śaṅkhu (Śaṅkhabhūpati of the Haihaya line), who had settled at Svāmi Pushkariṇī. They saw Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa first in his terrible viśvarūpa (universal form), and then in his gentle four-armed form.

In his prayer at that time, Agastya asked that the Svarṇamukhī, which flows near the sacred mountain, be blessed with Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa’s grace. Then all who bathe in it and go on to Veṅkaṭādri would receive bhakti (devotion) and mukti (liberation). Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa gave this vara and said: “The Svarṇamukhī shall be like the Gaṅgā in granting wishes even to the devas. Svāmi Pushkariṇī and the Svarṇamukhī together shall hold all the rivers. Those who bathe in the Svarṇamukhī and then come to this mountain shall receive all joys of this world and at the end reach my abode.” (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 38)

Arjuna’s visit

In Chapter 29, Arjuna was on a year-long tīrtha-yātrā, after the breaking of the agreed rule with Draupadī (niyama-bhaṅga). He went from Gaṅgādvāra through Prayāga, Kāśī, the eastern coast, Purushottama-kshetra, Siṃhācala, Godāvarī, Kṛshṇā, Śrīśaila and Piṇākinī. Then he reached Veṅkaṭādri and did ārādhanā of Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa. Coming down from the mountain, he reached the Svarṇamukhī and went to the āśrama of Bharadvāja on its bank.

Chapter 30 describes this āśrama as a forest paradise. It had more than fifty kinds of flowering and fruit trees, divine animals and communities of siddhas. It was the place where Arjuna asked his questions about the river. Bharadvāja’s telling of the origin of the river (Chapters 31–35) is the fullest account of the Svarṇamukhī in the Māhātmya. (Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 29–30)

Sources

Skanda Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 29–35
Skanda Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 37–38

Svarṇamukhī River