Arustishena

Arustishena

Arustishena is the father of Ṛtadhvaja, a kshatriya king devoted to the dharma of kshatriyas. He is named in the account of Vṛddha-saṅgama, the tīrtha on the Gautamī where Bhagavān Śiva is called Vṛddheśvara.

Brahmā tells Nārada of Vṛddha, a ṛshi of the gotra of Gautama. In his wanderings Vṛddha Gautama came to a cave in the Himālaya and found there an old woman, a kanyā keeping brahmacarya and performing tapas alone. She told him her birth: “The son of Arustishena was known as Ṛtadhvaja. He was a meritorious, intelligent and heroic kshatriya, devoted to the dharma of kshatriyas.” Ṛtadhvaja came to that cave while hunting, met Suśyāmā, the daughter of the king of the gandharvas, and the old woman was born of their union. Ṛtadhvaja ruled his kingdom for eighty thousand years, performed tapas and went to svarga, and after him his son ruled for ten thousand years.

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 37