STORY OF RUTADHWAJA

Once upon a time, there lived a king called Shatrujit. He was a very
valorous king. He used to perform many yagnas because of which the
Devraj or Indra was very pleased with him.

Shatrujit had a son named Rutadhwaja who was equally valorous.

When the son used to go out and play, all other children from the
same locality used to come and play with him.

After some period of time, two male snakes from Nagaloka, who were
born to Ashwatar, the Naga, descended down to the Earth to have a
tour of the Earth. They disguised themselves as Brahmanas.

They appeared to be very young and intelligent and friendly to all

other children and likewise, the children used to play with them daily.
This prompted their father Ashwatar from Pataala Loka to ask them,
why do you have so much affinity to the children of the Earth. These
days, surprisingly, I am able to find you only during the night in the
Patala Loka.

The male snakes (children) replied to their father, Ashwatar, stating

that there lives a king named Rutadhwaja in the Martyaloka who has
all good qualities of a noble person. He respects all. He is equally
charitable, and only his presence makes them happy, that is the reason
they do not wish to get separated from Rutadhwaja.

The father Ashwatar replied, praising Shatrujit for giving birth to such
a noble child, he stated, there are so many examples of people who
are having knowledge of all shastras, but do not have truly noble
qualities. I am very pleased to know about him and would therefore
like to reward him with gifts from my end such as Jewellery and
diamonds or anything else to make him happy. You can take them
without any hesitation and give to Shatrujit.

On hearing this, (the children) male snakes replied, they have far
more superior ornaments than what we have in our Pataala Loka.
They grant boons to all those who come to visit them and they
provide answers to any type of difficult questions put forward to them
with their intellectual faculty, but yes, they do have one thing to be
done, but there is a doubt in this regard, as only the Brahma, the
Vishnu, and Shiva can address this issue.

After knowing this, Ashwatar expressed his desire to help Shatrujit in

anyway possible.

The story goes further, and the children reply to their father.

Once upon a time, a Brahmin arrived at Shatrujits house. His name

was Galava. He was also known as Galava Rishi. He came to
Shatrujits house with a divine horse, named Kuvalaya. He narrated
his story as follows. I have been spending my time all day and night
performing penance, and while I am busy doing all this, an Asura or
Demon has been trying to constantly create obstacles in my penance
by disguising himself as a Lion, Elephant, or any other animal and
destroying my peace of mind. Though I can easily get rid of him with
the power of my penance, I do not wish to use my powers for such
purposes. He further states, one day, a noble horse descended from
the heavens and there was a beautiful message of Akashavani for me
which read as follows, this horse is not an ordinary horse, it has
tremendous endurance capacity, can travel throughout the world
wherever you wish without getting exhausted, which has been gifted
to you by none other than Surya, the Sun god. It can travel even in
water with great speed. It can even cover great mountains. It is
named as Kuvalaya. The rishi further added that as per the
Akashavani or the heavenly message, the demon who has been
creating difficulties for him will be killed one day by Rutadhwaja
when he rides on this horse, Kuvalaya, and as a result, Rutadhwaja
will also be called as Kuvalayashwa

The rishi, Galava requested Shatrujit to instruct Rutadhwaja, his son

to accompany him for this noble purpose.

----As per ancient texts----