Rivers in Hinduism
[2] The most significant rivers in the faith are the Saptanadi and which includes the Ganges, Yamuna, Sindhu, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri.
She is the goddess of purity and purification, as people believe that bathing in the Ganges removes sins and helps in gaining moksha.
When Ganga appealed to her husband to help her, he opted to remain neutral, not wishing to participate in a quarrel between his three wives, whom he loved equally.
When Lakshmi attempted to soothe Saraswati's anger by reasoning with her, the jealous goddess grew angry with her as well, accusing her of disloyalty towards her.
Bhagiratha, a king of the Solar dynasty, is stated to have performed a penance to propitiate Ganga, and urged her to descend upon earth from Svarga to liberate his ancestors' spirits, who had perished in Patala, the netherworld.
She informed him that her descent would be powerful enough to flood the earth were she to directly land upon its ground, and hence told him to request Shiva to help.
In the Bhagavata Purana, in a legend that is associated with canal irrigation, the deity Balarama once wished to sport with some women in the Yamuna river.
[10] In some texts, it is written that once there was a terrible battle between the Bhargavas and Hehayas, and from this an all-consuming fire called Vadavagni was born, which had the potential to destroy the whole world.
Indra, Vishnu, and the devas visited Saraswati, requesting her to deposit the fire in the western ocean, in order to protect the universe.
According to one legend, she is said to have been blessed by Shiva to possess the ability to destroy the sins of all those who bathe in her waters, and become as sacred in the south as Ganga was in the north.
According to the Skanda Purana, during the episode of the Samudra Manthana, Vishnu assumed his ravishing female form of Mohini to offer the elixir of eternal life to the devas, and deny it to the asuras.
When King Kavera propitiated Brahma for a child, the deity blessed him with Lopamudra, with the patronymic Kaveri, as his daughter, so that she would rid people of their sins and usher in fertility.
[17] According to legend, the sage Gautama lived near the Brahmagiri hills, and had gained the boon of a bottomless grain-supplying well.
To expiate the sin of having caused the death of a sacred creature, Gautama propitiated the goddess Ganga to descend upon his hermitage and cleanse it.
Described to be the daughter of Surya and the younger sister of Savitri, she is married to a king named Samvarana in Hindu texts.
According to this text, impressed by the piety of a sage named Shantanu and his wife, Amogha, who resided along the banks of the river Lohita, Brahma blessed the couple with his own child in the latter's womb.
