2016, Vol. 2, Issue 1, Part A

author(s)
Dr. Kamal Nayan Patowary

abstract
In an interview the famous Japanese historianrnNoboru Karashima once said ‘if literaturernis to be used as a method of analysis, comparative literature of same periodrnshould be studied to understand various types of social formation’ ^[1].rnBut here, the two treatises, the KalikarnPurana and the Yogini Tantra thatrnwe are selecting for this comparative study are not contemporary to each other.rnEven the nature of composition of these two treatises is also not same – one isrnknown as an Upa-Purana and otherrnbeing considered as tantra. But therernare factors like same regional background i.e. both are regarded as compositionrnof Assam and both have vivid geographical descriptions which inspired us tornmake the proposition of this comparative study. In this regard it isrninteresting to note that these descriptions are categorically mean to speakrnspecially about rivers. More than fifty rivers of divergent identities havernfound their mention in each of these two compilations of Kamrupa origin.rnThough, majority numbers of such references are about the rivers of Assam butrnit is interesting that the treatises are also speaking about the rivers beyond thernterritories of the traditional boundaries of Assam and such references ofrnrivers are the core concern of the study. Inspired by the ideal of nadi stuti of Rg Veda, the study here intends to go with comparativernmethodological approach to understand different phases of cultural connectivityrnthat Kamrupa had enjoyed through the ages.