Arundhatī is the wife of the great sage Vaśiṣṭha. She is so famous for her loyalty to her husband, that while blessing a newlywed wife, the reference to Arundhatī comes in– “As Arundhatī is dear to Vaśiṣṭha, so may you be to your husband–

yatha vaiśravaṇe bhadrā vaśiṣṭhe cāpyarundhatī

yathā nārāyaṇe lakṣmīstathā tvaṃ bhava bhartṛṣu.

Arundhatī has been mentioned several times in Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, as an example of a devoted wife, or to suggest an inseparable bonding between husband and wife.

*arundhatī vā subhagā vaśiṣṭham

*ślāghyā vā vyapadeśyā vā yathā deveṣvarundhatī.

*viṣṇuṃ kīrti ruciḥ sūryaṃ vaśiṣṭhaṃ cāpyarundhatī

naitāntu vijahatyetān bhartṛn devyaḥ kathañcana.

Arundhatī is the daughter of Dakṣa. She was one and the chief among the ten daughters Dakṣ gave away to Dharma. But the Purāṇ scholars have referred to this as the incident of Vaivasvata Manvantara. According to Matsyapurāṇa, the eight Vasu(s) were born of the womb of this Arundhatī–

arundhatyā prasūtyāni dharmād vaivasvate̍ntare

aṣṭau ca vasavaḥ putrāḥ  somapāśca vibhostathā.

In this Matsyapurāṇa, it is said that whatever exists in the earth, is born of Arundhatī–

*pṛthivītalasambhūtamarundhatyāṃ vyajāyata

*pṛthivīviṣayaṃ sarvamarundhatyāṃ vyajāyata.

According to Bhāgavatapurāṇa Arundhatī is the daughter of the Prajāpati sage Kardama, she is born of the womb of Devahūti. Kardama gave her away in marriage, to sage Vaśiṣṭha. In another Paurāṇika opinion, Arundhatī is directly the daughter of Prajāpati. Sage Nārada and Parvata are the sons of Prajāpati, and Arundhatī is their younger sister. But this Prajāpati is not Brahmā. Brahma̍s son Kaśyapa was also known as Prajāpati. Nārada and Parvata are the two sons of this Kaśyapa Prajāpati, and Arundhatī was his daughter. Nārada got his sister Arundhatī married to Vaśiṣṭha.

kaśyapānnāradaścaiva parvato̍rundhatī tathā.

nāradastu vaśiṣṭhāyārundhatīṃ pratyapādayat.

Śaktri was the son of Parāśara, and Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana Vyāsa is the son of Parāśara.

Arundhatī̍s loyalty to her husband and her ascetic powers created such a position of respect for her, that the wives of the sages have not been mentioned in specific, but Arundhatī is mentioned with special respect separately, as a Sādhvī lady, where the meaning of Sādhvī is ̍not ̍ the wife of a saint̍, not even in the sense of a loyal wife, but in the sense of a ̍lady saint herself–
kaśyapo̍trirvaśiṣṭhaśca bharadvājo̍tha gautamaḥ
viśvāmitro jamadagniḥ sādhvī caivāpyarundhatī.
The context in which the name of Arundhatī is mentioned separately along with the other seven sages, is one of not accepting gifts from others and an overall conquering of greed. While discussing how they conquered greed, they gave their opinions, among which the words of Arundhatī, are also very important. She says– the cpreservation of ascetic power is more important than equipments collected for observing Dharma , for one week.
tapaḥsañcayo eveha viśiṭo dravyasañcayāt.

In Ādiparva of Mahābhārata, at the time of Khāṇḍavadahana, there is a conversation between Mandapāla and his wife Jaritā. There is an information that, once Arundhatī doubted her husband. Vaśiṣṭa was of a nature without stain, and always thinking well of his dear ones, and Arundhatī, too led a very disciplined life. Though he was trustworthy to everybody, Arundhatī once suspected him of being attracted to some other woman, while he was sitting among the seven sages. But this suspicion was groundless, and due to this unreasonable suspicion, the morning-sunlike complexion of Arundhatī turned a little smoky–
apadhyānena sā tena dhūmāruṇasamaprabhā.

Thus sometimes she is found clearly, and sometimes not.

Behind this myth, the status of Arundhatī, as a star, gains significance. The presence of the Saptarṣi, a constellation in the sky, is called ̍Big Dipper̍ according to the conception of the West. According to this, Vaśiṣṭha is Mizar. And the tiny star Alcor or Arundhatī can hardly be seen beside it. In fact, Arundhatī cannot be seen clearly at the side of Vaśiṣṭha, and due to this, a folk-belief has been popular, and on the other hand, in Āyurveda, a condition before death has been marked by this Dhūmāruṇvarṇā Arundhatī. The apotheosis of Arundhatī was determined at the time of her birth itself. In one legend of Śivapurāṇa, Prajāpati Brahmā says, regarding the identity of Sandhyā– “Sandhyā is my daughter, later she was born as the Sādhvī Arundhatī in the house of sage Medhātithi. Afterwards she got married to the great sage Vaśiṭha.

The holy ritual of beholding the star Arundhatī in the evening sky gets reinforced by the relation of Arundhatī with Sandhyā (evening), conceptualised as a connection from her previous incarnation. When Sandhyā was born as the daughter of Brahmā, the father himself got fascinated, seeing her beauty. At the same time, the sons of Brahmā̍s mental conception also got attracted towards her. As per the scheme of Kāmadeva, she also felt delighted at their behaviour. Ultimately Brahmā controlled himself in fear of Śiva, but Sandhyā had to be a target of Śiva̍s crude jokes. Brahmā cursed Kāmadeva and Śiva went away to his own abode.

At that time, Sandhyā suffered from her inner guilt-feeling. She went to immerse herself in the river Candrabhāga. Understanding her mind, Brahmā sent his son Vaśiṣṭha to her, to let ker know about the rules of ascetic practice. Vaśiṣṭha went to him in disguise and initiated her in Śivamantra. Sandhyā bore matted locks upon her head, and dedicated herself in hard ascetic practice. Pleased with her tapasyā, Śiva appeared and blessed her. Sandhyā then entered into the yajñakuṇḍa of sage Medhātithi, and purifying herself by the yajña-fire, entered the Solar realm. Sūrya divided the body of Sandhyā in two, and placed her in his chariot.

Since she was not disuaded from her duty at no request (na rundhatī), she came to be known as Arundhatī. Sage Medhātithi got Arundhatī married to Vaśiṣṭha. The significance of Sandhyā in this legend has given Arundhatī the status of a star, to be beheld at the evening time.

There is a custom of showing the star Arundhatī to a new bride, with the purpose that the new bride will be as dedicated to her husband, as Arundhatī was to Vaśiṣṭha. Arundhatī cannot be seen at first sight. So in course of pointing the more prominent stars of Saptarṣimaṇḍala one by one, finally Arundhatī, at the side of Vaśiṣṭha, can be pointed out. In Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, Śankarācārya cites this reference of Arundhatī-darśna-nyāya and connects it to the understanding of finer things in course of understanding tangible things.

There is another concept associated with one̍s inability to see Arundhatī clearly. If someone, who could once recognise Arundhatī, now fails to locate the star, it is a sign that — this person̍s sight is failing, and it is a condition before one̍s death– as it is said in Mahābhārata.
yo̍rundhatī na paśyeta dṛṣṭapūrvāṃ kadācana
arundhatīṃ dhruvaṃ caiva somacchāyāṃ mahāpatham.
yo na paśyet sa no jīvenmaraḥ saṃvatsarāt param.

From this custom, a loukika nyāya has been come into practice, which is called Arundhatī darśna-nyāya.There are several legends regarding the satītva of Arundhatī. Most important among them is the legend associated with Agni and goddess Svāhā. Once Aṅgirā and others– the seven sages were offering āhuti in āhavanīya agni, for Indra and other gods. During the yajña-activities, the wives of the sages were sitting with them, and Agni got fascinated with the beauty of them. To keep a close watch on them, Agni entered into the Gārhapatya fireplace of the sages, because this gārhapatya fire constantly remains burning in the house of the sages, since their marriage. But Agni understood that these loyal and pious wives of the sages would never satisfy his desire, and nor could he control his desire. In pain and grief, he planned to commit suicide, going to a forest.

This came to the notice of Svāhā, daughter of Dakṣa. Svāhā always considered Agni as her would-be husband. Noticing Agni̍s uncontrollable desire for the wives of the seven sages, Svāhā planned to consummate with him, assuming the shape of each of the sage̍s wife. Assuming the form of the other six wives, and thus copulating with Agni, was easy for Svāhā, but she could not disguise herself as Arundhatī. Due to the ascetic power of Arundhatī, and her dedication to her husband, it was not possible for Svāhā to assume her form–
divyarūpaṃ arundhatyāḥ kartuṃ na śakitaṃ tayā
tasyāstapaḥprabhāveṇa bhatṛśuśruṣeṇa ca.
This incident indirectly proves that, the other six wives of the sages, though virtuous and loyal to their husbands, could have been influenced by the power and glory of Agni, but Arundhatī was impenetrable. Such was the virtue of her dedication to her husband, that hearing the false news that their wives went to copulate with Agni, the other six sages considered rejecting their wives, but Vaśiṣṭha did not even considered such a possibility. Arundhatī was the very name of impossibility of anything that is not true or pure–
tatyajuḥ ṣaṭ tadā patnīrvinā devīmarundhatīm.

This ascetic hardwork of Śruttāvatī and the context of that tīrtha-nāma (the place of pilgrimage) prepares the ground for the hard tapasyā of Arundhatī. Once the Saptarṣi, leaving Arundhatī here, went to Himālaya in order to collect fruits. At that time, it was a season without rain, and this continued for twelve years. Arundhatī was alone, when Śiva came to her, in the guise of a Brāhmaṇa, and asked for alms. Arundhatī said, there is no food items but some vadara-fruits at home, you can eat these–
–kṣīno̍nnasañcayo vipra vadarāṇīya bhakṣaya.
Śiva said, “Then cook these for me.” Arundhatī put them on fire to cook them. But they did not get boiled. Days after day passed on, Arundhatī herself went on without food, try to cook the vadara-fruits and listened to several talks from Śiva, in the form of a Brāhmaṇa–
anaśnatyāḥ pacantyāśca śṛṇvantyāśca kathāḥ śubhāḥ.
Many day passed like that. By that time– in fact, after Aundhatī put the vadara(s) on fire, rains came down. But she must give the vadara(s) to the Brāhmaṇa, and they did not come to be boiled, and Arundhatī did not step back from her dedication. Now the seven sages came back with fruits. Śiva showed his real form and said to the Saptarṣi– whatever tapasyā you have performed in Himālya, is nothing in comparison to the hardwork and tapasyā of Arundhatī–
asyāstu yattapo viprā na samaṃ tanmataṃ mama.

She took no food, and continued these twelve years in the effort to cook these vadara(s) for me.

God Śiva wanted to grant a boon to Arundhatī. She said, “If you are so pleased, o Lord, let it be so that this place becomes known as Vadarapācana tīrtha, and if people come here and perform vrata and fasting, may that person attain the fruit of tapasyā for twelve years. Śiva went away, granting that boon. And the seven sages were surprised to see the appearance of Arundhatī. There was no sign of ascetic hardwork and exhaustion in her looks. This Arundhatī attained as a siddhi, as a result of her tapasyā–
evaṃ siddhiṃ parā prāptā arundhatyā viśuddhayā.
Finally, what remains interesting about the name of vadara-pācana tīrtha , that it had been a result of Arundhatī̍s tapasyā. Indra simply repeated the act of vadara-cooking with Śrutāvatī, and he told Śrutāvatī about the tapasyā of Arundhatī.

The name of another woman called Akṣamālā creates a problem regarding the identity and life of Arundhatī. She is also known as the loyal wife of Vaśiṣṭha. In the upaparva called Gālava-carita in Udyogaparva, there are some examples of ideal husband-wife relation, such as Lakṣmī with Nārāyaṇa, Rudrāṇī with Rudra, Sukanyā with Cyavana, Lopāmudrā with Agastya, Pulomā with Bhṛgu, or Kaśyapa with Aditi. Among them, he name of Vaśiṣṭha and Akṣmālā aso comes as the name of an ideal couple– vaśiṣṭhaścākṣamālā.

More surprisingly, Manu– whom we consider as a very conservative personality, has taken the example of Akṣmālā and her relationship with Vaśiṣṭha in a special context. He says, if the man, to whom a woman is associated through marriage, is good, his good qualities get transmitted into the wife. And if the man is bad, his bad qualities also gets transmitted into the wife, just as– even sweet and clear water of a river may become salty and undrinkable, if it comes into contact with the sea. Akṣmāla is an example of a wife who attained higher virtues through her husband: though she was low-born, being Vaśiṣtha̍s wife, she came to be respected by all the world. Another such example is the caṭaka bird Śāraṅgī Jaritā who became famous through her association with sage Mandapāla–
akṣamālā vaśiṣṭhena saṅyuktādhamayonijā
śāraṅgī mandapālena jagāmābhyarhaṇiyatām.
Since in an ancient Smṛti-text like Manusaṃhitā, there is a reference to Akṣmāla̍s low-birth, and she is also referred to as the wife of Vaśiṣṭha, the identity of Arundhatī becomes questionable.

This becomes all the more established when Aśvaghoṣa, the Buddhist poet of 1st/2nd century CE, in his Buddhacarita, gives a list of famous mythological characters, and their interest in women belonging to lower castes. In that list Aśvaghoṣa has written that Parāśara, while crossing Yamunā, copulated with Kālī (Satyavatī) the, and   sage Vaśiṣṭha copulated with Mātaṅgī Akṣamālā– a woman belonging to a despicable low caste, and gave birth to a son called Kapinjalaāda (Kapinjala) simply out of lust–
mātangyāṃ akṣamālāyāṃ garhitāyāṃ riraṅsayā
kapinjalādaṃ tanayaṃ vaśiṣṭho̍jayan muniḥ.

This statement of Manu and Aśvaghoṣa also remind us of one incident in Skandapurāṇa. Here it is said– in acient times, there was a Chaṇḍalā daughter, honested, and with virtues of being a dedicated wife–
āsīt purā mahādevi satī cādhamayonijā
akṣamāleti vai nāmnā satīharmaparāyaṇā.

Once, there broke out a famine. Sages, becomeing very hungry, came to the house of a Chaṇḍala. That Chanḍala had a huge stok of corns. Sages, knowing that, asked for food. They even said– one who can keep such a stock of corns at this time of famine– should not be called a Chaṇḍala at all. We can understand, this praise of a Chaṇḍala from the lips of Brāhmaṇa(s) came only as a means of getting food at the time of famine. The Chaṇḍāla also understood this, and said exactly those words uttered by the Brāhmaṇa(s) at other times– Brāhmaṇ(s) should not accept food from a Chaṇḍla, and if they do, they must go to naraka, and so on. The sages, however, did not pay heed to the moral advice of the Chaṇḍāla, and cited many examples where apparently ̍adharma̍ (non-ethical) has been considered as ̍dharma̍ at a time of crisis, and again asked for food–
dadasvānnaṃ dadasvānnmasmākamiha yācatām.

The Chaṇḍāla said, “Well, I̍ll give you food. But I have one condition. I have a daughter called Akṣmālā. Let the seniormost and the greatest among you get married to her. Hearing the request or declaration of the Chaṇḍalā, the sages were somewhat disturbed at first, but after some deliberation, they convinced the great-souled Vaśiṣṭha to marry Akṣmālā. Considering the importance of āpaddharma (ethics for a period of crisis), Vaśiṣṭha married Akṣamālā–
vaśiṣṭho̍pi samākhyāya āpaddharmaṃ mahāmanāḥ
kālasyānantaraprekṣī prodvavāhāntyajāṅganām.

After narrating this incident, Skandpurāṇa says– then, Akṣamālā stopped the solar energy by the power of her Satīdharma and asceticism ( rudh/ rundh dhātu means ̍to stop̍), and since then her name was Arundhatī–
yadā svakīyatejobhirarkavimvamarundhata
arundhatī tadā jātā devadānava-vanditā.
After this, Skandapurāṇa mentions the argument of Manusaṃhitā and says that the husband̍s virtues get transmitted into the wife, and in this way, Akṣamālā became Arundhatī by the power of her dedicated association of her husband.

The process of beholding Arundhatī in the evening sky is associated with the legend of Akṣamālā̍s stopping the solar energy. It is to be further noted the smallness and almost invisible status of Arundhatī beside Vaśiṣṭha can also be a sign of Akṣamālā-Arundhati̍s so-called low-caste situation. The scholars have analysed the statement of Aśvaghoṣa in Buddhacarita–
Akṣamālā is of course Arundhatī. This ̍Akṣ̍a̍ here means the cycle of the constellation of the stars named after the seven sages. Arundhatī is located beside Vaśiṣṭha, on the northern sky , as if she is the most important element, like a locket– nakṣatra-cakrabhūṣaṇam. It is again to be noted that the astronomical name of Vaśiṣṭha is Mixar, which means ̍waistband̍ or girdle. So here is also a notion of an axis-cycle, whereas Arundhatī or Alcor is like the gem of the axis– sā hi uttarasyāṃ diśi gagane saptarṣimaṇḍalacakre mālārūpeṇa vartate, sarvebhyaśca ujjvalatvāt tasyā mālārūpeṇa sthitatvācca nakṣatracakabhūṣaṇam. akṣasya nakṣatracakrasya māleva bhūṣaṇatvād akṣamālā.