98 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MlR. 
[Extra No. 2, 
village of Panzath, situated in the Div^sar Pargana and boasting of a 
fine spring which is still visited by the pious of the neighbourhood. 1 
After another disappearance for a reason similar to the above, the 
goddess came forth a third time at Narasiriihasrama. This place I am 
unable to trace with certainty. Finally the goddess was induced to 
abide permanently in the land when Kasyapa had secured for her the 
company of other goddesses, who also embodied themselves in Kasmir 
streams, like Laksmi in the Visoka, Gfariga in the Sindhu, etc. 
Another version of the legend which, however, seems of less ancient 
date, seeks the place of the Vitasta’s second appearance in the spring 
of the modern Vitkfivutur , a small village situated about one mile to the 
N. W. of Vernag. 2 The place is known by the name of Vitastdtra to 
Kalliana who mentions Stupas erected there by King Asoka. 3 This 
notice certainly seems to indicate some sacred character attaching to 
the spot. Yet Kalliana’s direct mention of the Nilakunda ns the birth¬ 
place of the Vitasta leaves no doubt as to where the tradition prevalent 
in his own time placed the source of the sacred river. 4 * 
62 . The streams which unite close to Anatnag and there form the 
true Vitasta river, are the Sdndran , the Bring , 
Ar a path and Lid a r . Of these the first and 
southernmost drains the Shahabad (or Ver) 
Pargana and receives the water of the sacred springs mentioned in 
the preceding paragraph. Its old name I am unable to trace with any 
certainty. The next affluent, the Bring , comes from the side-valley 
which forms the Pargana of the same name. The ancient name of the 
stream is unknown, the modern Vitastamahatmya which gives it as 
Bhrhgi , being but a doubtful authority. The Bring too is fed by the 
water of some well-known Nagas, among which the famous Trisamdliya 
fountain and the springs of Ardhanarisvara (Nar u ) may be specially 
mentioned. 
The Ar a path which comes from the north-east, is mentioned 
repeatedly in the Nllamata by its ancient name of Harsajiathd . 6 The 
Headwaters of 
Vitasta. 
1 Compare Rdjat. v. 24 note. 
8 This version is found in the Vitastamahatmya, ii. 37, sqq ., which calls the 
place Vitastdvartikd ; see also Vigne, i. p. 335. 
3 See Rdjat. i. 102 note. 
4 Rajat. i. 28. I am unable to account for the mention made in the Mahdbh. iii. 
Ixxxii. 90 of the Taksaka Naga in Kasmir as the Vitasta, i e., its source. No such 
distinction is claimed for the well-known Taksaka spring near Zevan (Jayavana) ; 
see Rdjat. i. 220. The author of the Tirthaydtrd in the Mahabh. shows no accurate 
knowledge of Kasmir and seems to have made a mistake here. 
6 See Nilamata, 232, 1299, etc. 
