It was also called the Payoshni or the Paisani (Sanskrit word meaning Ambrosia), which is mentioned in the Mahabharata as being located in the territory of Vidarbha and Khandesh at the northern entrance of the Dandaka Forest.

It rises in the eastern Satpura Range of southern Madhya Pradesh, and flows westward, draining Maharashtra's Vidarbha region before merging with the Tapi river.

[2] The watershed lies mostly in the Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state and is nearly 18,929 square kilometres.

The Purna meets the Tapti at Changdev village in the Muktainagar taluk of Jalgaon District in Northern Maharashtra.

The Changdeva Maharaj temple is built at this meeting place (Sangam) of the two rivers as devotees believe it to be sacred (pavitra sthan).