Vedic seers asked rivers for permission to cross — a covenant of care that modern India has entirely forgotten. This wide-ranging literary survey covers Yamuna’s significance in both the Rig Veda and the Puranas, showing how divinity was systematically assigned to natural phenomena out of reverence, awe, and ecological reciprocity.

The speaker examines the celebrated dialogue in Rig Veda’s 3rd Mandala where Vishwamitra asks the rivers Vipasa and Shatudri for passage — and the rivers, in turn, ask whether future generations will also seek their blessing rather than destroy them. This ancient question reverberates with contemporary urgency. The talk expands the Vedic Aryan geographical horizon beyond the Sapta Sindhu to the Ganga-Yamuna Pradesh, presenting Yamuna as the river that definitively extends Vedic civilisation eastward — making her not a peripheral but a central presence in India’s oldest literature.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Shashi Tiwari is a distinguished Vedic and Sanskrit scholar and recipient of the Rashtrapati Samman (2015). She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Lucknow and has been a visiting professor at the Hindu University of America. As President/General Secretary of the Wider Association for Vedic Studies (WAVES), she has led major national and international initiatives to promote Vedic studiesAuthor of 32 books across Sanskrit, Hindi, and English—many award-winning—Dr. Tiwari is celebrated for her extensive contributions to Vedic research, Sanskrit literature, and Indian intellectual traditions.