Kanva Explained

Kanva or Kanwa (Sanskrit: कण्व ), also called Karnesh, was an ancient Hindu rishi^[1] of the Treta Yuga, to whom some of the hymns of the Rig Veda are ascribed. He was one of the Angirasas. He has been called a son of Ghora, but this lineage belongs to Pragatha Kanva, a subsequent Kanva of which there were many.^{[2] [3]} However, Puranic literature has other different lineages for him, one as the son of Apratiratha and grandson of King Matinara, and another as the son of Ajamidha, who was a descendant in the ninth generation of Tansu, the brother of Apratiratha (Atiratha), or Ajamidha who was a contemporary of Matinara.^[4] This last seems to be the modern consensus.^[5] He is sometimes included in the list of the seven sages (the Saptarishis).Kanva had a son Medhatithi. Kanva is also mentioned in Mahabharata as the adoptive father of Shakuntala.

• Kanva (Karnesh) is also the name of a founder of a Vedic shakha of the Shukla Yajur Veda, and hence the name of that theological branch of Hinduism, the Kanva Shakha.^[6]
• Kanva (Karnesh) is also the name of several princes and founders of dynasties and several authors.
• The Kanvas (Karnesh) are the descendants of king Vasudeva Kanva (1st century BCE).^[7]
• The Kanvas are also a class of spirit, against whom hymn 2.25 of the Atharva Veda is used as a charm.

Notes and References

1. Dowson . John . John Dowson . 2000 . Kanva . A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology & Religion . D. K. Printworld second . New Delhi . D. K. Printworld . 154 . 81-246-0108-9 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200519170458/http://lakshminarayanlenasia.com/articles/Downson-Religion.pdf . 19 May 2020 . live .
2. Book: Patton, Laurie L. . 1996 . Pedigree Narratives: Parents After the Fact . Myth as Argument: The Brhaddevata as Canonical Commentary . Berlin . Walter de Gruyter . 270 . 3-11-013805-0.
3. Book: Pargiter, F. E. . 1997 . Ancient Indian Historical Tradition . Delhi . Motilal Banarsidass . 226–228 . 978-81-208-1486-8 ., a reprint of the 1922 London Oxford University Press edition.
4. Book: Muir, John . 1872 . Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India: Mythical and legendary accounts of the origin of caste, with an enquiry into its existence in the Vedic age . second . London . Trübner . 234–236 .
5. Book: Sarmah, Thaneswar . 1991 . The Bharadvājas in Ancient India . Delhi . Motilal Banarsidass . 138–139 . 978-81-208-0639-9 .
6. For a brief summary of the shakhas as given in Shaunaka's see: Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 1062, right column.
7. Book: Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam . History of Ancient India: Earliest Times to 1000 A.D. . 2002 . Atlantic Publishers & Dist . 978-81-269-0027-5 . 132 . en.