Name of a river that has been mentioned along with Vedasmṛtā (Vedasmrita), Vedavatī (Vedavati) and Tridivā (Tridiva) in Jambukhaṇḍavinirmāṇaparva [Jambukhandabinirmanparva; a sub-chapter of Bhīṣmaparva (Bhishmaparva)] of Mahābhārata (Mahabharata). But the source of this river is not given in Mahābhārata.

In Vāyupurāna (Vayupurana), river Ikṣulā (Ikshula), along with Trisāmā (Trisama), Ṛtukulyā (Ritukulya), Lāṅgulinī (Langulini), Vaṃśdharā (Vamsadhara), Tridivā (Tridiva) so on, has been referred to as daughter of Mount Mahendra – mahendratanayāḥ smṛtā – that is to say Mount Mahendra  is the source of the river Ikṣulā .

In Matsyapurāṇa (Matsyapurana),this river is named as Ikṣudā (Ikshuda) and it is mentioned together with Ṛṣikulyā (Rishikulya) as well as Tridivā with Mount Mahendra as their common source.

In Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa (Markandeyapurana) too, river Ikṣulā is spoken of along with Ṛtukulyā, Lāṅgulinī, Vaṅśkarā (Vanshakara), Tridivā rivers and the source is again stated as Mahedra Mountain.

Modern research says that the Mahendra range of mountains spreads out from Odisha to the district of Madura in Tamil Nadu . Pargitar identifies the section of the  Eastern Ghats mountain-range lying between the rivers Mahanadi and Godabari as Mount Mahendra.

This place has been identified as the source of River Ikṣulā. As stated by Vasudeva Saran Agrawala, this is the very river that flows through Farukkabad district by the name of Ikhna, though others justify that it is a river in the Deccan Plateau. In the opinion of S. M. Ali, this river is identical with river Bāhudā (Bahuda). While Bāhudā is widely known as a North Indian river, another opinion observes that there is a river Bāhudā in the Deccan Plateau as well.