A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2194

c5.2194

YAMUNĀ. The river Jumna, which rises in a mountain called Kalinda (Sun). The river Yamunā is personified as the daughter of the Sun by his wife Sanjnā. So she was sister of Yama. Bala-rāma, in a state of inebriety, called upon her to come to him that he might bathe, and as she did not heed, he, in a great rage, seized his ploughshare-weapon, dragged her to him and compelled her to follow him whithersoever he wandered through the wood. The river then assumed a human form and besought his forgiveness, but it was some time before she could appease him. Wilson thinks that “the legend probably alludes to the construction of canals from the Jumna for the purposes of irrigation.” The river is also called Kālindī, from the place of its source, Sūrya-jā, from her father, and Tri-yāmā.