Kushṭha (Daitya)

Kushṭha

Kushṭha is a chief daitya of the host of Raktāsura, son of Mahishāsura. The Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa names him among those who came against Bhagavatī.

In the battle against Bhagavatī

Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa tells this account to the king, in the narrative of the Dhvaja Navamī vrata. By a vara of Brahmā, Raktāsura held the rule of the three worlds and took Amarāvatī, and the devas fled to Karachatrāpurī. There Bhagavatī appeared as a Kumārī with the nine Durgās, mounted on a lion, holding weapons in her twenty arms.

The daityas came against her, of great valour, proud through Brahmā’s vara. The Purāṇa names their chiefs, and Kushṭha stands in the list after Naraka and before Pulomā. They shone like blazing fire, rode many vāhanas and carried many weapons and banners. They rained arrows, śūlas, gadās and other weapons on Bhagavatī. She took their banners by force and gave them to the devas, destroyed countless daityas in a moment and split the heart of Raktāsura with her triśūla. The daityas who were left fled to save their lives.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 61

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 61