Ṛshikulyā
Ṛshikulyā · ṛshi-kulyā, “the stream of the ṛshis”
Ṛshikulyā is a holy river of Bhārata-varsha. The Brahma Purāṇa names it among the rivers born of the Mahendra mountain, one of the seven kula-parvatas (chief mountain ranges) of Bhārata, and again among the rivers born at the foot of the Śuktimat mountain. It is also named among the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth, where one who bathes, fasts and offers tarpaṇa with śraddhā gains the fruit of an aśvamedha.
Among the rivers of Bhārata-varsha
Lomaharshaṇa tells the munis that north of the ocean and south of the Himālaya lies Bhārata-varsha, nine thousand yojanas wide, called the karma-bhūmi, the land of action, for from here alone beings attain svarga and moksha. In it are the seven kula-parvatas: Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimant, Ṛksha, Vindhya and Pāriyātra. He names the rivers each range sends forth. The Śatadru, Candrabhāgā and others flow from the outlying hills of the Himavān; the Narmadā and Surasā from the Vindhya; the Tāpī, Payoshṇī, Nirvindhyā and Kāverī from the foot of the Ṛksha; the Godāvarī, Bhīmarathī and Kṛshṇaveṇī from the foot of the Sahya; the Kṛtamālā and Tāmraparṇī from the Malaya. The Trisāndhyā, the Ṛshikulyā and others are born of the Mahendra mountain, and the Ṛshikulyā, Kumārī and others are born at the foot of the Śuktimat. Their tributaries are in thousands, and the peoples of the lands along them drink their waters and live in plenty and joy.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 19
Among the tīrthas of the earth
When the munis asked how many holy tīrthas and kshetras there are on the earth, the teller first said that one whose hands, feet and mind are controlled, and who has jñāna, tapas and good name, gains the fruit of serving all the tīrthas; then he named the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth, beginning with Pushkara. The Ṛshikulyā is among them, named between Sindhūttha and Sakṛttika.
One who serves these tīrthas with śraddhā, performs the bath and the other prescribed acts, keeps his senses in check, offers tarpaṇa (water offerings) to the devas, ṛshis and pitṛs, worships the devatās and fasts three nights there gains distinct and endless fruits, and through them the fruit of the aśvamedha yajña. One who daily hears or reads this glory of the tīrthas is freed from every pāpa.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 25
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 25