A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1916

c5.1916

USIJ. Mentioned in the *Rig-veda* as the mother of Kakshīvat. A female servant of the queen of the Kalinga Rāja. The king desired his queen to submit to the embraces of the sage Dīrgha-tamas, in order that he might beget a son. The queen substituted her bondmaid Usij. The sage, cognisant of the deception, sanctified Usij, and begat upon her a son, Kakshīvat, who, through his affiliation by the king, was a Kshatriya, but, as the son of Dīrgha-tamas, was a Brāhman. This story is told in the Mahā-bhārata and some of the Purānas.