Lankeswaran Ravana, who was highly musically inclined, was also an accomplished Veena player. As per a legend, to appease Lord Siva, he once cut one of his heads and also his body nerves, made a Veena and played Samaganam. So much was his love for the instrument that he had Veena in his flag and was called "Veenaikodiyon".

In Soundarya Lahari's Sloka 66 there is a beautiful anecdote which goes on like this: Goddess Saraswathi is "singing " praise of Pasupathi in her veena (it is said that when Saraswathi plays Veena, one gets to hear the lyrical form itself and that is why the word "singing" in used-gaayanthee ) in the presence of Devi Parvathi, who at an exhilarated moment vocally exclaims at the beauty of the music. That simple exclamatory Aaha! of devi is sweeter than the music itself making Saraswathi to simply blush and stop playing and She even silently wraps up Her instrument!(Vipachyaa gaayanthee).

In Lalitha Sahasranamam, Lord Hayagreeva refers the same incident in Sloka 11, by saying "Nijasallaba mathurya vinirbarthsitha kachabee".