]

Within the Punj[=a]b, the Vedic Aryans, now at last really 'Hindus,'
having extended themselves to the Cutudri (Catadru, Sutlej), a
formidable barrier, and eventually having crossed even this, the last
tributary's of the Indus, descended to the jumna (Yamun[=a]), over the
little stream called 'the Rocky' (Drishadvat[=i]) and the lesser
Sarasvat[=i], southeast from Lahore and near Delhi, in the region
Kurukshetra, afterwards famed as the seat of the great epic war, and
always regarded as holy in the highest degree.

Not till the time of the Atharva Veda do the Aryans appear as far east
as Benares (V[=a]r[=a]nas[=i], on the 'Varan[=a]vat[=i]'), though the
Sarayu is mentioned in the Rik. But this scarcely is the tributary of
the Ganges, Gogra, for the name seems to refer to a more western
stream, since it is associated with the Gomat[=i] (Gomal). One may
surmise that in the time of the Rig Veda the Aryans knew only by name
the country east of Lucknow. It is in the Punj[=a]b and a little to
the west and east of it (how far it is impossible to state with
accuracy) where lies the real theatre of activity of the Rig Vedic
people.

Some scholars believe that this people had already heard of the two
oceans. This point again is doubtful in the extreme. No descriptions
imply a knowledge of ocean, and the word for ocean means merely a
'confluence' of waters, or in general a great oceanic body of water
like the air. As the Indus is too wide to be seen across, the name may
apply in most cases to this river. An allusion to 'eastern and western
floods,'[17] which is held by some to be conclusive evidence for a
knowledge of the two seas, is taken by others to apply to the
air-oceans. The expression may apply simply to rivers, for it is said
that the Vip[=a]c and Cutudr[=i] empty into the 'ocean', i.e., the
Indus or the Cutudr[=i]'s continuation.[18] One late verse alone
speaks of the Sarasvat[=i] pouring into the ocean, and this would
indicate the Arabian Sea.[19] Whether the Bay of Bengal was known,
even by hearsay and in the latest time of this period, remains
uncertain. As a body the Aryans of the Rig Veda were certainly not
acquainted with either ocean. Some straggling adventurers probably
pushed down the Indus, but Zimmer doubtless is correct in asserting
that the popular emigration did not extend further south than the
junction of the Indus and the Pa[=n]canada (the united five
rivers).[20] The extreme south-eastern geograp