Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists: List-I (Vedic name of river): A. Drishadvati, B. Askini, C. Vitasta, D. Purushni List-II (Modern name): 1. Chenab, 2. Chautang, 3. Ravi, 4. Jhelum

Correct — B, A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3. Take the pairs one at a time. Drishadvati (A) is the Chautang (2), the seasonal stream of Haryana that the Vedic texts place beside the Sarasvati as the boundary of Brahmavarta. Askini (B), Asikni or 'the dark one', is the Chenab (1) — the Akesines of the Greek accounts. Vitasta (C) is the Jhelum (4), the Hydaspes on whose bank Alexander fought Porus. Purushni (D), Parushni, is the Ravi (3), where the Battle of Ten Kings was fought. Only option (b) puts all four in those places.

• (a)A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3 — Gets Drishadvati and Purushni right but swaps the middle pair — it makes Askini the Jhelum and Vitasta the Chenab.
• (c)A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2 — Has Askini and Vitasta right, then trades Drishadvati and Purushni, giving the Ravi to Drishadvati and the Chautang to Purushni.
• (d)A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2 — Every pair is displaced; nothing in it survives a check against the Nadistuti hymn's order.

The Rigveda names the rivers of the north-west in its own vocabulary, and the Nadistuti hymn lists them roughly east to west: Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Shutudri, Parushni, Asikni, Vitasta and the Indus. Reading Vedic geography means holding that list of old names against the modern map of the Punjab.

Two anchors make this set safe. First, the Greek names run parallel to the Vedic ones — Hydaspes for Vitasta, Akesines for Asikni, Hydraotes for Parushni — so anyone who remembers Alexander on the Jhelum already has Vitasta. Second, Drishadvati is the odd one out: it is not a Punjab river of the five at all but a Haryana stream identified with the Chautang, which is why it can only take 2.

• Vitasta is the Jhelum, Asikni the Chenab, Parushni the Ravi, Vipas the Beas and Shutudri the Sutlej.
• Drishadvati is identified with the Chautang and is paired with the Sarasvati in defining Brahmavarta.
• The Battle of Ten Kings, in which Sudas of the Bharatas defeated a confederacy, was fought on the Parushni.
• Beyond the Punjab the Rigveda names Kubha as the Kabul, Krumu as the Kurram, Gomati as the Gomal and Suvastu as the Swat.
• The Nadistuti sukta in the tenth mandala is the single hymn that lists these rivers in order.

• Swapping Vitasta and Asikni, the two that sound alike in a hurry.
• Treating Drishadvati as one of the five Punjab rivers.

As a four-pair matching list, or as a one-liner asking for the modern name of a single Vedic river.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Vedic river Parushni is identified with the modern

  • (a)Ravi
  • (b)Beas
  • (c)Sutlej
  • (d)Jhelum

  Answer(a) Ravi — the Battle of Ten Kings was fought on its bank.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Alexander's battle against Porus was fought on the river the Vedic texts call

  • (a)Asikni
  • (b)Vitasta
  • (c)Shutudri
  • (d)Vipas

  Answer(b) Vitasta — the Jhelum, known to the Greeks as the Hydaspes.