Vṛddhakauśika

Vṛddhakauśika · vṛddha-kauśika, “Kauśika the elder”

Vṛddhakauśika was a brāhmaṇa who lived in the city of Bhauvana, on the top of a mountain. His son was the brāhmaṇa Gautama, the most excellent of those who knew the Vedas, the friend of the vaiśya Maṇikuṇḍala. This Gautama is not Gautama Maharshi.

Brahmā tells Nārada of him in the glory of Cakshustīrtha, on the southern bank of the Gautamī, where Bhagavān Vishṇu dwells as Yogeśvara, Īśvara of the yogas. The city of Bhauvana was ruled by a king also named Bhauvana, who kept the dharma of a kshatriya. Vṛddhakauśika’s son Gautama, because of a defect in his mother’s mind, had a nature contrary to his learning: he cheated and maimed his friend Maṇikuṇḍala, and was later ruined by gamblers. Maṇikuṇḍala, now a king, found him, honoured him, taught him the power of righteous deeds and had him bathe in the Gaṅgā to wash away his pāpas.

Then the two friends with their kinsmen, chief among them Vṛddhakauśika, performed yajñas near Yogeśvara, worshipped the devas and went to svarga. From then on the tīrtha is known as Mṛtasañjīvana, Cakshustīrtha and Yogeśa.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 100

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 100