Balarama traced the Saraswati river through its partially dried up course from the ocean near Prabhasa (close to Dwaraka) to its origin in the Himalayas.
Saraswata kings are mentioned as performing a sacrifice (3:129) at Plakshavatarana, a place on the banks of the Sarasvati at its origin from the Himalayas.
According to Adi parva of Mahabharata (1.90.25-26), it is mentioned that "King Matinara performed yagya (sacrifice) in Fire altars at the bank of sarasvati river".
Descendants of Vena became the Nishadas who established themselves close to the Saraswati valley (in Rajasthan to the north of Anarta kingdom in Gujarat).
Those tribes that had the hills and the forests for their abode and practiced fishing and hunting as their chief occupation, as also those hundreds and thousands of others called the Mlecchhas, residing on the Vindhya mountains were all the descendants of Vena.
Clad in mail, armed with scimitars, bows and arrows, and well-versed in the science of weapons, he was fully acquainted with the Vedas and their branches.
It was the origin of Hindu traditions and scriptures On the banks of the Saraswati River was a place called Aditya.
It is mentioned as the place where all the Devas, the Vishwadevas, the Maruts, the Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Yakshas, the Rakshasas, and the Pisachas could be seen (9:49).
At (9:51) we found mention of the decline of Vedic culture due to the drying up of Saraswati River and its revival by a sage belonging to the same region.
There (in a place called Soma on the banks of Saraswati River), during a drought extending for twelve years, the Sage Saraswata, in former days, taught the Vedas unto many foremost of Brahmanas (9:51).
Coming back to the conclave of rishis, he spoke to them of Saraswata, of unrivalled splendour and god-like form engaged in reading the Vedas in a solitary forest.
A total of 60,000 sages became disciples of the venerable Rishi Saraswata for the sake of acquiring their knowledge of the Vedas from him (9:51).
[citation needed] This event is repeated again at (3:85): At the forest of Tungaka in olden days sage Saraswata taught the Vedas to the ascetics.