Introduction
Yamuna is both a great river of northern India and the goddess who personifies it. She is the daughter of Surya, the sun god, and Sanjna, and the sister of Yama, the god of death. She is one of the seven sacred rivers of India, together with the Ganga, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri, and is especially associated with Krishna and the town of Mathura and Vrindavan.
Family
- Father: Surya
- Mother: Sanjna
- Siblings: Ashvini Kumaras, Yama, Shani
The river
The Yamuna rises at the Yamunotri glacier in the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, at about 3,293 metres, and flows for about 1,376 kilometres, through Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Its major cities include Delhi, Mathura and Agra. At Prayagraj (Allahabad), it joins the Ganga at the Sangam, the most sacred confluence, where the mythical Sarasvati is believed to flow unseen as well. It is the largest tributary of the Ganga.
Names
She is called Kalindi, from Mount Kalinda, the peak from which she springs, and Yami, "twin", from the pair with Yama. The name Yamuna is sometimes explained as "twin".
In the Vedas
The river is mentioned in the Rigveda in the hymn of the rivers (10.75) and elsewhere.
Mythology
Yamuna is the daughter of Surya and Sanjna, and the twin sister of Yama. She is said to have loved her brother, and in the story of the festival Yama Dwitiya (Bhai Dooj), Yama visited her on the second day of the bright half of the month of Kartika. She gave him a feast, and Yama promised that any brother who visits his sister on this day will be free from the fear of death. This is why Bhai Dooj is celebrated across northern India.
Krishna and the Yamuna
The Yamuna is central to the story of Krishna. The Bhagavata Purana and Harivamsha say that Vasudeva carried the newborn Krishna across the flooded river to Gokula, and it parted or calmed. Krishna's childhood in Vrindavan took place on the Yamuna's banks, where he defeated the serpent Kaliya, who lived in the river's waters. The river is also called Kalindi in this context, and the name is also that of one of Krishna's queens.
Worship
The Yamuna is worshipped as a goddess. Yamunotri, at the source, is one of the four sites of the Char Dham pilgrimage in the Himalayas. Mathura's Vishram Ghat is a major bathing place. In the Pushtimarg tradition, the Yamunashtakam of Vallabhacharya is a well-known hymn to her.
Contemporary issues
The river is severely polluted, especially below Delhi. In 2017, the High Court of Uttarakhand declared the Ganga and Yamuna to be legal persons, though the Supreme Court stayed the order.