Rudrapaśu

Rudrapaśu · rudra-paśu

Rudrapaśu is a brāhmaṇa of Ujjayinī. The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells, in Sūta’s account, that Indra worshipped Bhagavān Sūrya in the month of Mārgaśīrsha as Bṛhaspati directed. Pleased, Bhagavān Sūrya, in the form of Pūshā, gave him darśana and said, “In Ujjayinī, in the house of Rudrapaśu, I shall take birth under the name Mihirācārya” (the text glosses the name as Varāhamihira). “I shall be the establisher of jyotisha śāstra.”

Under a yoga of Mūla-gaṇḍānta and Abhijit a boy was born in the house of the brāhmaṇa Rudrapaśu. His father placed the newborn son in a wooden chest and floated it down the river at night. It floated into the ocean, and there the boy was protected by rākshasīs. He came to Laṅkā, studied jyotisha, and was sent back by Vibhīshaṇa to the land of his birth, where he restored jyotisha.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 8

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 8