Jhelum River

Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.19.17-18) mentions the Jhelum River, which is also known as the Vitasta. The source of the Jhelum is a mountain called Vemag on the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas in Kashmir. The Rg Veda says that Kashmir is the embodiment of Goddess Uma (the consort of Lord Shiva) and that the Jhelum River is her simanta (the red line a lady puts on her head where her hair is parted in I the middle) because it flows centrally through Kashmir and divides it in a two. A Shiva temple was established by Shankaracharya in Srinagar, Kashmir. Kashmir was originally a lake called Satisaras, and a demon named I Jalodbhava resided there and killed humans and serpents. The sage Kashyapa propitiated Lord Vishnu, who asked Ananta Naga, His expansion in the form of a serpent, to pierce the hills around the lake so that the water in the Satisaras would flow away. Uma became the outgoing water, the Jhelum River. Once the lake dried up, the demon was killed.