River Krishna

[Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan]

In a message dated 3/21/99 4:25:15 AM Central Standard Time,
veekay at GIASBMC.VSNL.NET.IN writes:

> Perhaps it could have derived from veni(Krishnaveni) as veni
>  also means river both generic as well as specific.

According to D. C. Sircar, the following rivers are mentioned in Puranas.

Origin in the Vindhya:
-------------------------------
veNvA - identified with the waingaGgA which joins the prANhitA (praNItA of a
medieval inscription from Manthani) and falls into godAvarI.

Origin in the Sahya:
----------------------------
veNvA - modern varNA which runs between the Satara and Kolhapur Districts and
joins the kRSNA, the combined stream being often called kRSNaveNvA or
kRSNaveNA.

Sircar also says kRSNaveNI-nadI is mentioned in the Ramayana. I am curious how
old is the use of braided hair as a metaphorical description of a river?
According to MMW the earliest use is in mahAbhArata. Was there any such use
before that? With the Vedic culture centered around a region with multiple
rivers as tributaries of Indus, is there any such usage in the Vedic texts? In
other words, which came first -- a pre-existing word for river leading to this
Sanskritic interpretation or the concept of river as a braid resulting in
river names ending in vENi/I?

Regards
S. Palaniappan