The Godāvarī is one of the great sacred rivers of Bhārata-varsha. It is also called Gautamī, Vaishṇavī, Brāhmī, Nandā and Sunandā. It rises on the mountain Brahmagiri, flows through the Daṇḍaka forest in the south of Bhārata, south of the Vindhya mountains, and reaches the eastern sea.

The Purāṇas call her the Gaṅgā of the south. Gautama Maharshi brought her to earth by his tapas (austerity), and she came from the matted hair of Bhagavān Śiva. The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa has a whole section, the Gautamī Māhātmya of 105 chapters, on her origin, her course and her tīrthas (holy places). There Bhagavān Śiva himself declares her the holiest of all rivers.

Origin in the Varāha Purāṇa: Gautama and the twelve-year drought

The Varāha Purāṇa tells that in a distant age a hard drought of twelve years (dvādashavārshika-anāvṛshṭi) fell on Bhāratavarsha. Rivers dried up, wells were empty and crops failed. Men and animals were close to death from thirst and hunger.

The great ṛshi Gautama had his āśrama (hermitage) in a forest region. This place became the spiritual centre of the Deccan, the region later known as the Godāvarī basin. Gautama saw the suffering of his people with deep compassion. He took up hard tapas for the sake of all the beings who depended on his āśrama. He prayed to Bhagavān Śiva with one-pointed devotion. For a long time he stood on one leg, with his arms raised and his eyes fixed on Bhagavān Śiva, taking no food or water.

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased. Gautama’s tapas was for the welfare of others and not for himself. Bhagavān Śiva appeared before him and offered a vara (boon).

Bhagavān Śiva’s vara and the descent of the river

Gautama did not ask for power or moksha (liberation) for himself. He asked for water, a sacred river that would end the suffering of the drought for good and keep the region alive through all future ages. Bhagavān Śiva agreed. He sent the celestial waters, a channel of the cosmic Gaṅgā, down from svarga into the Godāvarī basin. The river came down through the Brahmagiri hills and other sacred ranges and began to flow through Gautama’s āśrama. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 71)

Origin of the name

The river was won by Gautama’s tapas and the grace of Bhagavān Śiva, and she carries the holiness of the celestial Gaṅgā into the southern lands. So she is called Godāvarī, and also Gautamī after the ṛshi. The name Godāvarī also means “she who gives cows” (go-dā). In the Vedic tradition the cow stands for plenty, so this means that she gives every blessing and prosperity. Another meaning given for the name is “she who purifies through touch”.

Sacred importance

The Varāha Purāṇa presents the Godāvarī as the Gaṅgā of the south. For those who live in the Deccan and the southern parts of Bhārata-varsha she is as holy as the celestial Gaṅgā. Bathing in the Godāvarī on auspicious days is said to give the same puṇya (merit) as bathing in the Gaṅgā at Prayāga. This is above all true at the great Pushkara festival, which comes once in twelve years.

The account of Gautama and the Godāvarī also stands within the Tri-śakti narrative. The Godāvarī basin is the region linked with the appearance of the three śaktis and the battle against Mahishāsura. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 71)

The Gautamī in the Brahma Purāṇa

Cosmic origin

The Gautamī Māhātmya traces the river back to the Gaṅgā who lives in the matted hair of Bhagavān Śiva. When Bhagavān Vishṇu came as Vāmana and grew into Trivikrama to cover all three worlds, Brahmā received the raised foot of Bhagavān Vishṇu with water from his kamaṇḍalu (water pot), as an argha (offering of respect). The water touched the lotus foot of Bhagavān Vishṇu, became pure, and flowed in four directions. Bhagavān Śiva caught the southern stream in his matted hair. In time this stream came down to earth as the Gautamī. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 4)

Gautamī and Bhāgīrathī

The Brahma Purāṇa says that the one divine Gaṅgā, held in the matted hair of Bhagavān Śiva, came down to earth by two paths. One path was through Bhagīratha, a kshatriya, to the north of the Vindhyas. The other was through Gautama, a brahmin, to the south of the Vindhyas. In its words: “To the south of the Vindhya, Gaṅgā is called Gautamī. In the north of the Vindhya, she is called Bhāgīrathī.” Both have the same celestial origin and are equally holy. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 8)

The descent through Gautama

A drought of 24 years destroyed all life in the world of mortals. Only Gautama’s āśrama on Brahmagiri stayed a place of plenty, by the power of his tapas. All the ṛshis of the Daṇḍaka region came and lived there during the drought.

Some ṛshis then made a plan. It came through the divine plan of Vināyaka, which was itself arranged to fulfil the wish of Umā to bring Gaṅgā to earth. They sent an illusory cow into Gautama’s field. When Gautama touched it, the cow fell “dead”. The ṛshis accused Gautama of go-hatyā (killing a cow) and left. Gautama understood that only Bhagavān Śiva could give a means of atonement. He went to Kailāsa and sang the well-known Ashṭamūrti stotra (hymn of praise) before Maheśvara.

Bhagavān Śiva came with Umā, Gaṇeśa and his followers, and offered Gautama any vara. Gautama asked for the river from the matted hair of Bhagavān Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva gave him the Gaṅgā, and with her a series of great varas:

Bathing anywhere along her course to the sea destroys all pāpa (sin), even the pāpa of killing a brahmin.
Merely remembering her gives the puṇya of bathing in other rivers at the time of eclipses.
She gives moksha to all who come within ten yojanas of her.
Bhagavān Śiva himself will always be present wherever she flows.

Bhagavān Śiva declared three times: “Gautamī is the holiest of all rivers.” (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 5–7)

Six names and fifteen channels

Gautama led Gaṅgā to Brahmagiri with his matted hair. He placed his matted hair on the top of the mountain, and Gaṅgā came down. She divided into fifteen channels: four in svarga (heaven), seven on earth and four in pātāla (the nether worlds). Bhagavān Śiva gave the river six sacred names:

Gautamī, for Gautama, who brought her to earth.
Vaishṇavī, for Vishṇu, from whose foot she first sprang (from the argha of Brahmā).
Brāhmī, for Brahmā, who poured the argha water.
Godāvarī, “giver of cattle” (go-dāna-varadā). The name also recalls the cow (go) that was the cause of her descent.
Nandā, the blissful river.
Sunandā, the supremely blissful river.

(Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 7)

Seven streams at Bhīmeśvara

At Bhīmeśvara on the Gautamī, the seven great ṛshis of the present manvantara (the Saptarshi group) held a great satra-yajña (a long sacrificial session). They divided the Gautamī into seven named streams:

Vāsishṭhī, for Vasishṭha
Vaiśvāmitri, for Viśvāmitra
Vāmadevi, for Vāmadeva
Gautamī, the central stream, for Gautama
Bharadvājī, for Bharadvāja
Atreyī, for Atri
Jāmadagnī, for Jamadagni

(Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103)

The twelve most sacred rivers

The Brahma Purāṇa names twelve rivers as the most sacred of all. Between the Himavān and the Vindhya are Bhāgīrathī, Narmadā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, Viśokā and Vitastā. Between the Vindhya and the southern sea are Godāvarī, Bhīmaratī, Tuṅgabhadrā, Veṇikā, Tāpī and Payoshṇī. The Gautamī (Godāvarī) heads the southern group. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 1)

Greatness of the river

The Brahma Purāṇa declares the Gautamī the best of all rivers, through the threefold word of Bhagavān Śiva. Among its promises:

Bathing anywhere along her course to the sea destroys all pāpa, even the pāpa of killing a brahmin.
Merely remembering her gives the puṇya of bathing in all other sacred rivers at solar eclipses, at the equinoxes and on other auspicious occasions.
All who come within ten yojanas of the river gain moksha.
Bhagavān Śiva himself is always present wherever she flows.

(Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 6)

Key tīrthas on the Gautamī

The 105 chapters of the Gautamī Māhātmya list hundreds of tīrthas along the river. Among the most important:

Tryambaka: at the source on Brahmagiri; the Jyotirliṅga of Bhagavān Śiva.
Brahmagiri: the sacred mountain where the river begins.
Ahalyāsaṃgama: where Ahalyā came out of the Gautamī, restored.
Cakratīrtha: where Bhagavān Vishṇu offered his eye as the 1000th lotus to Bhagavān Śiva and won back his Sudarśana cakra.
Cakreśvara / Pippaleśatīrtha: where the tapas of Pippalāda and the offering of Dadhīci are remembered.
Janasthāna: where King Janaka performed the Aśvamedha yajña and gained moksha.
Paiśāca Tīrtha: on the southern bank near Brahmagiri, linked with the birth of Hanūmān.
Kumāratīrtha: linked with the vow of Kārttikeya.
Bhīmeśvara: where the seven ṛshis held their satra and divided the Gautamī into seven streams.

The Godāvarī in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

In the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Agastya Muni named Pañcavaṭī, on the banks of the Godāvarī, as the best forest home for Rāma in his exile. During their years at Pañcavaṭī, Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa bathed in the Godāvarī and did their daily rites on her banks.

When Rāvaṇa seized Sītā and carried her through the sky in his Pushpaka vimāna, Sītā called out to the Godāvarī, among other witnesses. She begged the river to tell Rāma what had happened. In the grief of Rāma after the abduction, the familiar banks of the Godāvarī became part of the scene of his sorrow.

Sources

Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 71
Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 1–105 (cited above: Chapters 1, 4, 5–7, 8 and 103)
Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 73
Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 146
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 13–48