HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Yamuna"

Word

Yamuna

Sanskrit

यमुना

IAST

yamunā

In General

Yamuna (also spelled Jamuna) is one of the sacred seven rivers. Yamuna originates from Yamunotri in the Kalinda mountan, a part of Himalayan range. The name Kalindi for Yamuna is because of its birth in the Kalindi mountain. Delhi, Vrindavan Mathura are some of the cities through which the river flows.

Yamuna join with the Ganges at Prayag. Literal meaning of Yamuna is twins in Sanskrit, as it runs parallel to the Ganges. Yamuna is believed to be a tributary of Sarasvati river earlier. Its deverting the path and joining Ganga is one of the reason for Sarasvati being dried up.

Veda

The river Yamuna is mentioned at many places in the Rig Veda (10.75.5) , Atharvaveda, Aitareya Brahmana and Shatapatha Brahmana

Purana

In the Puranas, Yamuna has got the poetic glory as it was on its bank that Krishna played Rasalila . Puranas have the story that, the giant snake, Kaliyan once poisoned Yamuna and thus it became a cause of worry for Vrishni people. For this Sri Krishna in his boyhood days fought with Kaliyan and driven him away.

Water in Yamuna is said to be black colour in Purana. There is a story that water of Yamuna became dark in colour because of Siva, in his intense sorrow over the loss of his wife Sati once jumped in to the river.

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