1. Hiranjavatî, "the gold-coloured river," also called Svarnavati,
"the yellow river," both names occurring only in Buddhist writers:
one of the northern tributaries of the Ganges, into which it falls
not far from Patna, and the chief river of Nepaul. Its name was
properly Gandakavatî = "Rhinoceros-river," or simply Gan'da'kî,
whence its modern name of the Goondook, as also that of Kondochates,
into which it was transformed by the Greek geographers. In its upper
course it often brings down ammonite petrifactions, which are believed
to be incarnations or manifestations of Vishnu, hence it has a sacred
character, and on its banks are numerous spots of pilgrimage.