Kanva or Kanwa (Sanskrit: कण्व káṇva), 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.^{[citation needed]} He was one of the Angirasas.^{[citation needed]} He has been called a son of Ghora, but this lineage belongs to Pragatha Kanva, a subsequent Kanva of which there were many.^[2][3] 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.^[3][4] This last seems to be the modern consensus.^[3][5] He is sometimes included in the list of the seven sages (the Saptarishis).^[1] Kanva had a son Medhatithi.^[4][5] Kanva is also mentioned in Mahabharata as the adoptive father of Shakuntala.

• Kanva (Karnesh) is also the name of a founder of a Vedic shakha of the Shukla Yajur Veda, and hence the name of that theological branch of Hinduism, the Kanva Shakha.^[6][7]
• Kanva (Karnesh) is also the name of several princes and founders of dynasties and several authors.^{[citation needed]}
• The Kanvas (Karnesh) are the descendants of king Vasudeva Kanva (1st century BCE).^[8]
• The Kanvas are also a class of spirit, against whom hymn 2.25 of the Atharva Veda is used as a charm.^{[citation needed]}