Yamuna - Religious Significance

Religious Significance

The goddess of the river, also known as Yami, is the sister of Yama, god of death, and the daughter of Surya, the Sun god, and his wife Saranyu. Yamuna, referred respectfully as Yamunaji, holds a very important position in Pushti Marga, a sect of Hinduism based on the ShuddhAdvaita, where Shri Krsna is the main deity, propagated by VallabhAcharya / MahaPrabhuji, and having a large following in India.

The river Yamuna is also connected to the religious beliefs surrounding Krishna and various stories connected with Him are found in Hindu religious texts, especially the Puranas, like that of Kaliya Daman, the subduing of Kaliya, a poisonous Nāga snake, which had inhabited the river and terrorized the people of Braja. Yamuna, according to the legends is closely related to Lord Krishna and Mahabharata. Krishna was taken across the Yamnuna on the night of his birth. Kansa, Krishna's maternal uncle planned to kill all his nephew's, as his eight nephew was predicted to be his Kāla. When Vasudeva, carrying Krishna in a basket, reaches the river Yamuna, on the extremely turbulent, rainy night of Krishna's birth, Yamuna is said to have parted to make way for Vasudeva. Krishna and the Gopi's also used to play on the banks of Yamunaji as children.