Candrabhāgā (River)
Candrabhāgā · candra-bhāgā
Candrabhāgā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Candrabhāgā.
The Candrabhāgā is a holy river of Bhārata. The Agni Purāṇa, which Agni Deva taught to Vasishṭha Maharshi, names it in two teachings. In the description of Bhāratavarsha, the Candrabhāgā is the river named for the Himālaya, one of the seven chief mountain ranges of the land: from the Himālaya flow the Candrabhāgā and other rivers. And in the mantras for a king’s abhisheka, the Candrabhāgā is one of the holy rivers called on to bathe and protect the king. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa names the Candrabhāgā among the great rivers of Bhārata that purify by the mere remembrance of their names, and tells that in the Kali-yuga the lands on her banks will be ruled by those without Vedic conduct.
A river of the Himālaya
Agni Deva describes Bhāratavarsha, the land north of the ocean and south of the Himālaya, nine thousand yojanas in extent. It is the karma-bhūmi, the land of action, for those who wish to attain svarga and moksha. Its seven kula-parvatas (chief mountain ranges) are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat, Himālaya, Vindhya and Pāriyātra, and each gives rise to its own rivers. From the Pāriyātra come the Vedasmṛti and others; from the Vindhya, the Narmadā and others; from the Sahya, the Tāpī, the Payoshṇī, the Godāvarī, the Bhīmarathī, the Kṛshṇaveṇī and others; from the Malaya, the Kṛtamālā and others; from the Mahendra, the Trisāmā and others; from the Śuktimat, the Kumārī and others; and from the Himālaya, the Candrabhāgā and others.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 118
At the abhisheka of a king
Pushkara taught Paraśurāma the mantras for the abhisheka (consecration bath) of a king. If the kalaśa is filled with water and kuśa and the king is bathed with it, all his wishes are fulfilled. Each mantra is a blessing on the king. After the devatās, the ṛshis, the worlds, the mountains and the oceans, the tīrthas are called on, and then the holy rivers: “May these holy rivers perform your abhisheka and protect you”: the Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī, Śatadru, Gaṇḍakī, Acchodā, Vipāśā, Vitastā, Devikā, Kāverī, Varuṇā, Niścirā, Gomatī, Pārā, Carmaṇvatī, Rūpā, Mahānadī, Mandākinī, Tāpī, Payoshṇī, Veṇā, Vaitaraṇī, Godāvarī, Bhīmarathī, Tuṅgabhadrā, Araṇi, Candrabhāgā, Śivā, Gaurī and the rest.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
Among the great rivers of Bhārata
Śrī Śuka Maharshi, describing Bhārata khaṇḍa to Parīkshit, names its forty-two great rivers in order: Candravaśā, Tāmraparṇī, Avaṭodā, Kṛtamālā, Vaihāyasī, Kāverī, Veṇī, Payasvinī, Śarkarāvartā, Tuṅgabhadrā, Kṛshṇā, Veṇyā, Bhīmarathī, Godāvarī, Nirvindhyā, Payoshṇī, Tāpī, Revā, Surasā, Narmadā, Carmaṇvatī, Sindhu, Mahānadī, Vedasmṛti, Ṛshikulyā, Trisāmā, Kauśikī, Mandākinī, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, Dṛshadvatī, Gomatī, Sarayū, Rodhasvatī, Saptavatī, Sushomā, Śatadru, Candrabhāgā, Marudvṛdhā, Vitastā, Asiknī and Viśvā, with the nadas Andha and Śoṇa. The people of Bhārata bathe in the waters of these rivers, which purify one merely by the remembrance of their names.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 19
In the Kali-yuga
Foretelling the kings of the Kali-yuga, Śuka tells Parīkshit that the countries on the banks of the rivers Sindhu and Candrabhāgā, the city Kuntīpura and the Kāśmīra-maṇḍala will be ruled by śūdras, by brāhmaṇas and kshatriyas without the upanayana, by mlecchas, and by those without Vedic conduct. These rulers, he says, will be firmly set in adharma and untruth, give little in dāna, and have little strength and short lives.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 1
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 118, 219
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 19; Skandha 12, Chapter 1