Veṇā (River)

Veṇā

The Veṇā is a holy river of Bhārata. The Vāmana Purāṇa names her twice in its account of the rivers of Kumāra-dvīpa: once among the thirteen holy rivers born at the foot of the Vindhya, and once among the fourteen great rivers that are daughters of the Sahyādri. All these rivers, the ṛshis said, are supremely pure, and they are the wives of the ocean. When Kumāra was consecrated as the leader of the deva armies, the Veṇā gave him the gaṇa Śvetānana.

Among the rivers of Bhārata

When the rākshasa king Sukeśī asked the maharshis of a forest in Magadha about Jambūdvīpa, they told him of Kumāra-dvīpa, the land of Bhārata, its seven kula-parvatas (chief mountain ranges) and the rivers that give water to its lands. They named the rivers by the mountain from which each one rises.

Thirteen holy rivers are born at the foot of the Vindhya, and the Veṇā is the sixth of them: Śivā, Payoshṭi, Nirvindhyā, Tāpī, Nishadhāvatī, Veṇā, Vaitaraṇī, Sinībāhu, Kumudvatī, Toyā, Mahāgaurī, Durgandhā and Vāśilā.

Fourteen great rivers are the daughters of the Sahyādri, and the Veṇā is the fourth of them: Godāvarī, Bhīmarathī, Kṛshṇā, Veṇā, Sarasvatī, Tuṅgabhadrā, Suprayogā, Vāhyā, Kāverī, Dugdhodā, Naḷinī, Revā, Vārisenā and Kalasvanā. All these rivers, the ṛshis said, are supremely pure, and they are the wives of the ocean.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 13

Her gift to Skanda

When Kumāra was consecrated at Kurukshetra as the leader of all the deva armies, Bhagavān Śiva, Brahmā, Vishṇu and the devas gave him attendants of their own, and then the rivers offered their gaṇas, one by one. The Veṇā gave him the gaṇa Śvetānana, the white-faced. In this way all the rivers helped in the work of Kārttikeya.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 31

Sources

• Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 13 and 31