Purukutsa

Purukutsa was a son of Māndhātā, the great cakravartī (emperor) of the Solar dynasty. In the Āśramavāsika Parva of the Mahābhārata, Nārada tells that Purukutsa gained great tapas-siddhi (success in austerity) in the forest near Kurukṣetra where Dhṛtarāṣṭra later lived. The river Narmadā, the foremost of rivers, became his wife. Through great tapas in that forest, Purukutsa reached svarga (heaven).

Son of Māndhātā

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa (9th Skanda, Chapter 6) names Purukutsa as one of the three sons of Māndhātā and Bindumatī. The other two are Ambarīṣa and the yogī Mucukunda. The account in the Āśramavāsika Parva adds a further event in Purukutsa’s life. Nārada tells it in his address to Śatayūpa and the ṛṣis gathered at Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s forest āśrama (hermitage).

Tapas and marriage to Narmadā

Nārada said that Purukutsa gained great tapas-siddhi in this very forest. It is the same tapovana (forest of austerity) where Sahasracitya, Śailālaya, Pṛṣadhra and Śaśaloma had each won svarga through tapas in earlier ages. To this great soul, Narmadā, famed as the foremost of all rivers, became his wife (bhāryā). After doing great tapas in this forest, Purukutsa went to svarga. (Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 20)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 20
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 6 (for the names of Māndhātā’s three sons)