The
Rigveda prescribes the sprinkling of
soma juice upon kusha grass in the performance of a rite. Chapter 6 of the
Bhagavad Gita contains the prescription to use kusha grass along with deerskin and cloth in the ideal seat of meditation. The
Garuda Purana states that the kusha grass is born of the hair of
Vishnu, and that it offers residence to the essence of all three of the
Trimurti. It is among the many substances that is declared to be impossible to become impure despite frequent usage. The
Bhagavata Purana features a legend from the
Uttara Kanda in which
Sita does not leave behind her son
Lava in
Valmiki's hermitage as she usually does while going out. The sage observes the boy's absence, and concludes that some animal had carried him away. Believing that Sita would not be able to bear the loss of her son, Valmiki creates an identical son from kusha grass and places him on Lava's cot. When the bewildered Sita noticed Lava's doppelganger, the sage explains what he had done, and she decides to raise the boy as Lava's twin, and names him
Kusha. The
Varaha Purana describes one of the seven continents of the earth named kushadvipa, surrounded by the
ocean of milk and containing seven mountains. == References ==