Kanva or Kanwa (Sanskrit: कण्व, IAST: Kaṇva), also called Karnesh, was an ancient Hindu rishi[1] of the Treta Yuga, to whom some of the hymns of the Rig Veda are ascribed.
[4] He has been called a son of Ghora, but this lineage belongs to Pragatha Kanva, a subsequent Kanva of which there were many.
[5][6] However, Puranic literature has other different lineages for him, one as the son of Apratiratha and grandson of King Matinara, and another as the son of Ajamidha, who was a descendant in the ninth generation of Tansu, the brother of Apratiratha (Atiratha), or Ajamidha who was a contemporary of Matinara.
[6][8] He is sometimes included in the list of the seven sages (the Saptarishis).
[7][8] Kanva is also mentioned in Mahabharata as the adoptive father of Shakuntala.