Vena () is a king in Hinduism, notorious for his wickedness and misrule. A descendant of the first Manu, he bans all worship, offerings, and sacrifices upon his accession. After denying all petitions to restore these practices, Vena is slain by sages with their consecrated blades of grass. He is succeeded by the legendary king Prithu, who springs from his right arm. In the Rigveda (10.123), Vena is a personification of a celestial being, perhaps the rainbow. The name of the hymn is also Vena, as is the name of the author of RV 9.85. Genealogy The Bhagavata Purana traces the origin of Vena as a descendant of Dhruva and Cakshusha Manu. Dhruva's eldest son, Utkala, did not ascend the throne. So, Dhruva's second son, Vatsara, was made the king. Vatsara married Svarithi, who gave birth to Pusparna, Tigmaketu, Isa, Urja, Vasu, and Jaya. Pusparna had Prabha and Dosa as wives. Dosa gave birth to Nishitha and Vyusta. Vyusta married Puskarini, and gave birth to Sarva-Tejas, who had a son – Cakshusha Manu, from his wife Akuti. Manu had twelve sons. Ulkmuka, one of Manu's sons, had six sons. Anga, one of Ulmuka's sons, married Sunitha, who gave birth to Vena. The Padma Purana mentions that Sunitha is the ugly daughter of Mrityu (death), and hence Vena is regarded to have been wicked from birth. Legend Origin The Padma Purana states that Sunitha, Vena's mother, was a cruel woman, who enjoyed hurting other people. Once, when she went to the forest to play with her maids, she saw a gandharva named Suśaṅkha. The handsome youth was engaged in a penance to propitiate the goddess of music, Saraswati. Sunitha started to annoy him, but Suśaṅkha resisted her attempts to distract him. Bitter that the youth was ignoring her, she struck him. Suśaṅkha was angered, but did not wish to strike a woman. Sunitha boasted of her lineage from Yama to him, but he was unimpressed. When Sunitha met Suśaṅkha again, she struck him with a whip. Furious, and shivering in pain, the youth cursed her thus: Birth According to the Bhagavata Purana, once, when King Anga was performing the ashvamedha sacrifice, the deities did not accept his oblations, for he did not have a son. On the advice of sages, Anga performed another sacrifice and venerated Vishnu. From the sacrificial fire arose a person with milk-boiled rice (payasam). Anga fed the