Etymology
The name of the river means "destroyer of religious merit". There are several legends about it.
According to one legend, the sage Vishvamitra through tapasya (penance, meditation and correct practices) acquired the power to create a whole new universe. When he set out to create a new universe it aroused consternation in Indra. However, he continued and after creating a copy of our universe, he started creating people, the first being Trishanku whom he decided to send up to rule his new universe. Indra stopped his progress. That is how Trishanku ended up suspended head down in mid-air. The Karmanasa was born out of the saliva dripping from his mouth.
Read more about this topic: Karmanasa River
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of style. But while stylederiving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tabletssuggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. Taste: The Story of an Idea, Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
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—Giambattista Vico (16881744)