Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.2235

c7.2235

KAUŚĀMBI. Four sons, Kuśāmba, Kuśanābha, Asūtarajas and Vasu were born to Kuśa, the son of Brahmā, of his wife the princess of Vidarbha. According to the order of their father each prince built a city and began to rule over it. Kauśāmbī is the city built by Kuśāmba. Kuśanābha built the city of Mahodayapura; Asūtarajas, the city of Dharmāraṇya and Vasu the city of Girivraja. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Sarga 32). It is mentioned in Kathāsaritsāgara that the city of Kauśāmbī stood in the middle of the kingdom of Vatsa and that Udayana born of the family of the Pāṇḍavas had once ruled this country with Kauśāmbī as his capital.