''Charmanwati (also spelled Charmanvati) is a river mentioned in the epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

. It is believed that the ancient name of Chambal river was ''Charmanvati'', meaning the river on whose banks leather is dried. In due course of time, this river became famous as the river of ‘charman’ (skin) and was named as ''Charmanvati''. The

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

epic

, refers to the Chambal river as the Charmanyavati: originating in the blood of thousands of animals and cows sacrificed by the Aryan King

Rantideva Rantideva () is a king of the Lunar dynasty in Hinduism. Described to be benevolent, he is stated to have achieved moksha (liberation) from Vishnu when the Trimurti tested his faith. A descendant of Bharata, he is described as a generous king in H ...

. Mbh.3.207.10715 though, sanskrit scholars and Mahabharat researchers like

Bhandarkar oriental research institute The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) is located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was founded on 6 July 1917 and named after Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925), long regarded as the founder of Indology (Orientalism) in In ...

who have compiled over 250 sanskrit manuscripts of Mahabharat have rejected this story as an interpolation as it is not there in most of the ancient manuscripts. "And in days of yore, O Brahmana, two thousand animals used to be killed every day in the kitchen of king Rantideva; and in the same manner two thousand cows were killed every day." :"So large was the number of animals sacrificed in the

Agnihotra Agnihotra ( IAST: ''Agnihotra'', Devnagari: अग्निहोत्र) refers to the yajna of casting of ghee into the sacred fire as per strict rites, and may include twice-daily heated milk offering made by those in the Śrauta tradition. T ...

of that king that the secretions flowing from his kitchen from the heaps of skins deposited there caused a veritable river which from this circumstance, came to be called the ''Charmanwati''. "

References in Mahabharata

Charmanwati was the southern boundary of Panchala Kingdom:- King

Drupada Drupada (Sanskrit: द्रुपद, lit. ''firm-footed'' or ''pillar''), also known as Yajnasena (Sanskrit: यज्ञसेन, lit. ''he whose army is sacrificial''), is a character in the Mahābhārata. The son of King Prishata, he was ...

ruled the southern Panchalas up to the bank of the Charmanwati river (1:140). King Rantideva is mentioned as performing animal sacrifices on the banks of Charmanwati (7:65, 12:29, 13:66).

Kunti Kunti ( sa, कुन्ती, ), named at birth as Pritha ( sa, पृथा, ), is one of the prominent characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is best known as the mother of the Pandavas and Karna, the main protagonists of the epi ...

left her new-born baby (

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the Pa ...

) in a basket and made it float in the river. The basket floated from the river Aswa to the river Charmanwati, and from the Charmanwati it passed to the

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ba ...

, and so on to the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

(3:306) and reached the city called

Champapuri Champapuri is a village in Bhagalpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the site of the ancient city of Champa, the capital of the Anga mahajanapada. Champapuri is claimed to be the only place where all the five kalyanas- garbha ...

the capital of

Anga Kingdom Anga (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts ...

. Marching to the banks of the Charmanwati, the Kuru warrior

Sahadeva Sahadeva (Sanskrit: सहदेव) was the youngest of the Pandava brothers, the five principal protagonists of the epic ''Mahabharata''. He and his twin brother, Nakula, were blessed to King Pandu and Queen Madri by invoking the twin gods Ash ...

met the son of king Jamvaka, who had, on account of old hostilities, been defeated before by

Vasudeva Krishna According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his ...

. The son of Jamvaka gave battle to Sahadeva. And Sahadeva defeating the prince marched towards the south (2:30).

References

{{Hydrography of Uttar Pradesh Mahabharata Ancient Indian rivers