Hermitage at the confluence of Ganga and River Sarayu
तौ प्रयान्तौ महावीर्यौ दिव्यम् त्रिपथगाम् नदीम् |
ददृशा ते ततः तत्र सरय्वाः संगमे शुभे || १-२३-५
Translation: Then on travelling some more distance those two great valiant ones, there they have seen the divine river that courses in three ways, namely Ganga, at the auspicious confluence of River Sarayu.
इह अद्य रजनीम् राम वसेम शुभ दर्शन |
पुण्ययोः सरितोः मध्ये श्वः
तरिष्यामहे वयम् || १-२३-१६
Translation: Let us stay for this night in this hermitage situated in between two meritorious rivers Ganga and Sarayu, oh, Rama with auspicious mien, tomorrow we will cross over the River Ganga.
ततः प्रभाते विमले कृत आह्निकम् अरिन्दमौ |
विश्वामित्रम् पुरस्कृत्य नद्याः तीरम् उपागतौ ||
१-२४-१
ते च सर्वे महात्मानो मुनयः संश्रित व्रताः |
उपस्थाप्य शुभाम् नावम् विश्वामित्रम् अथ
अब्रुवन् || १-२४-२
आरोहतु भवान् नावम् राजपुत्र पुरस्कृतः |
अरिष्टम् गच्छ पन्थानम् मा भूत्
काल विपर्ययः || १-२४-३
विश्वामित्रः तथा इति उक्त्वा तान् ऋषीन् प्रतिपूज्य
च |
ततार सहितः ताभ्याम् सरितम् सागरम् गमाम् ||
१-२४-४
Translation: Then, in the fresh of the morning those enemy destroyers, Rama and Lakshmana, arrived at the riverbank of Ganga keeping sage Vishvamitra ahead of them, which sage has just completed his ritualistic chores of dawn.All those sages of Kaama’s hermitage that are the great souls and scrupulous ones in their vows, have positioned an auspicious ferryboat within the reach in the river, and then they said to sage Vishvamitra. “You may board the boat keeping the princes ahead of you, and we wish you to proceed on a prosperous route without the shift of time.” So said the sages. Sage Vishvamitra on saying ‘it must be so,’ to those sages and revering them in his turn, cruised the river that itself is cruising towards ocean, along with both the princes.
तस्मात् सुस्राव सरसः सा अयोध्याम् उपगूहते ||
१-२४-९
सरः प्रवृत्ता सरयूः पुण्या ब्रह्म सरः
च्युता |
तस्य अयम् अतुलः शब्दो जाह्नवीम्
अभिवर्तते || १-२४-१०
वारि संक्षोभजो राम प्रणामम् नियतः
कुरु |
ताभ्याम् तु तावुभौ कृत्वा प्रणामम् अतिधार्मिकौ ||
१-२४-११
तीरम् दक्षिणम् आसाद्य जग्मतुर् लघु
विक्रमौ |
Translation: That river which spontaneously flows out of that Maanasa Lake surrounds Ayodhya city is this one, the River Sarayu. Because this has originated from a lake, सरः, this is known as Sarayu. And because it flows from Brahma’s Lake it is a merited river. This is the remarkable noise of such a Sarayu River in its coursing towards River Ganga, generated by the collision of their waters, and Rama, offer regards to these rivers, respectfully.” So said Vishvamitra to the princes.
Offering their salutations to River Sarayu and Ganga those two most virtuous and agile footed princes proceeded further on reaching the southern river bank.
Analysis and Notes:
Sarayu meets Ganga close to Revelganj, Bihar, India which is very close Chapra, Bihar, India
The distance from their first stop on the previous evening (about 1 ½ yojanas from Ayodhya) to Revelganj is about 150+ miles.
It would have taken about 40+ hours considering average human walking speed of 3-4 miles / hour. If they walked 6 AM to noon, 2 PM to 6 PM, they would have covered about 30+ miles per day. That would have taken 4-5 days to arrive at the junction of Sarayu and Ganga. However Valmiki did not indicate any clarity about the time taken for the journey.