Saptasrotas means “seven streams” (sapta, seven; srotas, stream). It is a holy tīrtha on the bank of the Gaṅgā in the Himālayas, at the place where the Gaṅgā divides into seven streams. It is the place where Dhṛtarāshṭra and Gāndhārī spent their last days under the guidance of Vidura, and where they gave up their lives through yoga. The first Skandha of the Bhāgavatam (Chapter 13) names it as the forest āśrama to which Nārada turned the attention of Yudhishṭhira after Dhṛtarāshṭra and his companions vanished from Hastināpura.

Where it lies

Saptasrotas lies in the Himālayas, in the region north of Hastināpura, at a point where the Gaṅgā divides into seven channels. The Bhāgavatam describes it as a vana (forest) āśrama, a place fit for vānaprastha (life in the forest) and final renunciation. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skandha, Chapter 13)

Dhṛtarāshṭra’s last home

Dhṛtarāshṭra left Hastināpura in the hours before dawn with Gāndhārī and Vidura, and walked north towards the Himālayas. They reached the āśrama at Saptasrotas. There, under Vidura’s guidance, Dhṛtarāshṭra took up the practices of vānaprastha: he ate less and less by fasting, practised prāṇāyāma, drew his mind away from outer things, and deepened his meditation.

The place suited this last sādhanā: the sound of the seven streams of the Gaṅgā, the forest, and the distance from worldly life. Through strong prāṇāyāma Dhṛtarāshṭra drew the inner fire through his body and was consumed in the fire of yoga, and so gained moksha. Gāndhārī entered the same fire in anugamana (following her husband). Vidura saw both events and afterwards went on with his own pilgrimage. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skandha, Chapter 13)

Nārada’s words to Yudhishṭhira

Yudhishṭhira was overcome with dread when Dhṛtarāshṭra, Gāndhārī and Vidura vanished from Hastināpura. Nārada came and comforted him. Nārada named Saptasrotas as the place to which the three had gone. He described it as the āśrama on the Gaṅgā in the Himālayas where Dhṛtarāshṭra had taken up his last renunciation. From this Yudhishṭhira could see that Dhṛtarāshṭra had not died in despair, but had followed the path of dharma of an elder who leaves the world for the last stage of life. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skandha, Chapter 13)

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skandha, Chapter 13