Aśokasundarī (Asokasundari) is the daughter of Śiva and Parvatī (Parvati), emanated out of their mental conception. She is a lady of all virtuous attributes, and extremely beautiful.
While playing with his female associates in Nandanakānana (Nandanakanana),a Daitya called Huṇḍa (Hunda), son of the Dānava-king Vipracitti (Viprachitti) was bewitched by the beauty of Aśokasundarī, and proposed to her. Aśokasundarī informed him that as per the permission of Mahādeva (Mahadeva), Nahuṣa (Nahusha), the son of Āyu (Ayu) (of the Lunar dynasty) and his wife Indumatī (Indumati) had been selected as her husband. Huṇḍa(Hunda) tried to convince Aśokasundarī that she would be senior to Nahuṣa (Nahusha) in age, so she should consummate with him instead of Nahuṣa. When Aśokasundarī refused, Huṇḍa, assuming the form of a woman, deceived her and took her to an illusory garden. There he again proposed to her. Aśokasundarī, being furious, cursed Huṇḍa, and she went off to the bank of Gaṅgā (Ganga), to perform tapasyā (tapasya) for his future husband’s longevity. In the meantime, King Āyu of Candravaṃśa (Chandravamsa), with the purpose of having a son, asked for a boon to the sage Dattātreya (Dattatreya). At that time, Dattātreya did not grant his prayer, but some days later, he asked the king to give him a skull-container full of liquor, and cooked meat. The king obeyed him, and the sage granted him the boon of getting a son. He gave a fruit to the king, and asked him to hand it to his wife.

After partaking of the fruit, Indumatī had a divine sight in her dream and told their family-priest Śaunaka (Saunaka) about this. He told king Āyu that his son would be well- accomplished in the art of archery. Now Huṇḍa, geting this information from his own daughter, tried to destroy the baby in the womb of Indumatī. But his attempts failed, and Indumatī gave birth to a son. Huṇḍa then abducted the child with the help of a maid, and gave it to his wife Vipulā, asking her to cook the flesh of the boy for his meal. But the maid and the Cook, whom Vipulā gave such instructions, could not kill the boy out of affection, and took him to the hermitage of Vaśiṣṭha. The sage came to know about the identity of the boy. He blessed him and gave him the name, Nahuṣa. Nahuṣa grew up, and he got trained in archery by the sage.

After Huṇḍa abducted Nahuṣa, Āyu and Indumatī were grief-stricken. Devarṣi Nārada came to tell Āyu that his son was living under the shelter of Sage Vaśiṣṭha. He also told Āyu that one day, Nahuṣa would slay the demon Huṇḍa, and come back to him, marrying Aśokasundarī.

One day Nahuṣa went to the forest, as instructed by Vaśiṣṭha. There he heard about his own birth, and how he was abducted, from a minstrel. He also heard that a lady called Aśokasundarī was performing tapasyā for him, and the demon Huṇḍa was disturbing him occasionally. The minstrel conveyedto him that it was his duty to kill Huṇḍa and rescue Aśokasundarī , and his parents had been waiting for him for a long time. Hearing all this, he took initiative to kill Huṇḍa. On the other hand, consuming venison, Huṇḍa proudly came to Aśokasundarī and told her that he had just killed the son of Āyu and consumed his flesh. Aśokasundarī denounced Huṇḍa for this,and said that the son of Āyu would attain a long life. However, she got concerned for him. Then a Kinnara called Vidvara, a devotee of Viṣṇu (Vishnu) assured her and told her that Nahuṣa was alive and growing up in the hermitage of Vaśiṣṭha.
When Nahuṣa was planning to slay Huṇḍa, the gods helped him with weapons. Mātali (Matali), the charioteer of Indra, carried him on the chariot of Indra himself. When the chariot entered the abode of Huṇḍa, Aśokasundarī was charmed to see him. But Nahuṣa said that he would not meet her until he kills Huṇḍa. Hearing about the arrival of Nahuṣa, Huṇḍa set out for a battle. After a terrible fight, Huṇḍa was dead. Other demons fled away. After killing Huṇḍa, Nahuṣa took Aśokasundarī on the chariot and came back to his parents. Āyu enthroned him the king of Hastināura and went to heaven, accompanied by his wife.