Why Vishwamitra Sought Brahmarshi Status

A king named Kusha lived in ancient times. He was the son of Prajapati. Kusha's strong son was named Kushanabha, and he was very righteous. Kushanabha's son became famous by the name Gadhi. The great and radiant sage Vishwamitra is the son of King Gadhi. He ruled as a king for many thousand years.

Once, King Vishwamitra gathered his army and roamed the entire earth with a large force. He passed through many cities, nations, rivers, and mountains and arrived at the ashrama of Sage Vasishta. The ashrama was filled with many kinds of flowers, vines, and trees. It was full of many Brahmins, Brahmarshis, and Devarshis. Many ascetic saints, radiant like fire, lived in that ashrama. Great Devas, as powerful as Brahma, were present all around. Some lived by drinking only water, and some only by air. Many saints survived by eating fruits, roots, or chewing dry leaves. Many sages, who controlled their minds and senses by conquering desires, were performing rituals, adding to the beauty of the ashrama. Because of all these features, the ashrama of Sage Vasishta looked like another Brahmaloka.

The mighty Vishwamitra was very pleased to see the ashrama and humbly greeted the great Sage Vasishta. Sage Vasishta welcomed him, offered him a seat, and gave him various fruits and roots. After receiving his hospitality, King Vishwamitra inquired about his penance, fire rituals, disciples, and the plants and trees around. After sitting down comfortably, Vasishta asked, 'O King, are you well? Do you rule your people according to dharma and keep them happy? You are indeed righteous yourself.'

You are not neglecting your royal duties, are you? Are you taking good care of your servants? Do they obey your commands? Are your army, treasury, friends, and sons and grandsons all well? The radiant King Vishwamitra replied, 'Yes, O Lord! Everything is well with me.' Then, the two righteous men spoke joyfully for a long time. They developed great affection for each other. After the conversation, Sage Vasishta smiled and said to Vishwamitra, 'O King! You are great and mighty, I want to host you and your army.' 'You are the best among guests, so it is my duty to host you with care.' King Vishwamitra said, 'O Sage! Your kind words have already honored me.' 'I have received fruits, roots, water, and other things from your ashrama; and above all, I have seen you.' 'Through all this, I have been fully honored.' 'O wise one! You are worthy of my worship, yet you have honored me so well.' 'I bow to you. Now I shall leave.' When the king said this, the generous Vasishta repeatedly requested him to accept the invitation. Then Vishwamitra, son of Gadhi, said, 'O greatest sage! I accept your command. Do as you wish.' After accepting the invitation, Vasishta joyfully called his sacred cow, Kamadhenu, and said, 'Kapila! Come here quickly and listen to me.' 'I want to offer great food and hospitality to King Vishwamitra and his entire army.' 'Gather all the items. Prepare whatever people desire from the six tastes of food.' 'You are the divine Kamadhenu. To please me, shower all desired items at this moment.' 'Create piles of food filled with juices, meals, drinks, chutneys, and things to suck on.' 'Create everything necessary, and do not delay.'

After Vasishta commanded, Kamadhenu created everything people desired. Various excellent food items appeared. There were heaps of steaming hot rice like mountains. Delicious and cleanly prepared grains and lentils were ready. Rivers of curd started flowing. Various tasty juices and dishes appeared. Thousands of silver plates filled with various foods were arranged. Everyone was greatly satisfied after receiving all those items. Vasishta satisfied Vishwamitra’s entire army. King Vishwamitra was also very pleased. After receiving hospitality with his ministers, officers, and servants, he was filled with joy. He said to Sage Vasishta, 'O Brahmin! You are worthy of my worship, yet you honored and welcomed me in every way.' 'Now, I want to say something, please listen.' 'Give me this Kamadhenu cow in exchange for a hundred thousand cows.' 'This cow is like a jewel, and a king is worthy of receiving jewels.'

After Vishwamitra said this, Sage Vasishta replied, 'O King! What are a hundred thousand cows? Even if you give a hundred crore cows and piles of gold and silver, I cannot give you this Kamadhenu.' 'My yajna offerings and livelihood depend on her.' 'Agni offerings, sacrifices, rituals, and many other forms of knowledge are dependent on this cow.' 'The truth is, this Kamadhenu is my everything.' 'She satisfies me in every way.' 'There are many reasons why I cannot give this Kamadhenu.'

When Sage Vasishta refused to give Kamadhenu in any way, King Vishwamitra forcefully started dragging her away. As they took her away, the cow became heartbroken and silently cried, thinking, 'Has Sage Vasishta abandoned me, that the king's soldiers are taking me like this?' 'Sage Vasishta's heart is pure; what wrong have I done that he is abandoning me even though I am innocent and loyal?' Thinking this, the cow began sighing deeply and, shaking off hundreds of the king's servants, swiftly ran back to the radiant Sage Vasishta. Reaching his feet, she wept in a voice like thunder, 'O Sage! Have you abandoned me, that these soldiers of the king are taking me away from you?' Hearing this, Sage Vasishta said to the sorrowful cow, 'Kamadhenu! I have not abandoned you, nor have you committed any offense.' 'This mighty king is forcibly taking you away from me.' Hearing this, Kamadhenu humbly said, 'O Sage! The power of a Kshatriya is nothing.' 'Brahmins are the most powerful. Their strength is divine, stronger than the strength of Kshatriyas.' 'I am empowered by your Brahmin strength. Just give me the command.' 'I will immediately crush this wicked king's strength, efforts, and pride.' After the cow said this, the highly renowned Vasishta replied, 'Alright, create soldiers to destroy this enemy army.' Upon hearing his command, the cow did exactly that. With her roar, hundreds of warriors from the Pahlava tribe were created and began destroying Vishwamitra's army before his very eyes. This enraged King Vishwamitra, and he used various weapons, big and small, to slaughter the Pahlavas. Seeing this, Kamadhenu again created fierce warriors from the Shaka and Yavana tribes. They filled the entire land. Those warriors, armed with sharp swords and spears, began to annihilate Vishwamitra's entire army.

Then the mighty Vishwamitra used various weapons, causing the Yavana, Kamboja, and Barbar warriors to become distressed. Seeing their panic, Vasishta said to Kamadhenu, 'Now create more warriors.' Following the command, Kamadhenu roared again. From her sound, warriors of various tribes like Kambojas, Yavanas, Barbars, Shakas, Mlecchas, and Haritas emerged from her body. Together, they destroyed Vishwamitra’s entire four-fold army of foot soldiers, elephants, horses, and chariots in an instant. Seeing this, Vishwamitra was filled with extreme rage and attacked Vasishta with many weapons, but Sage Vasishta's roar alone burned them to ashes.

Then the greatly renowned Vishwamitra, feeling ashamed, became deeply troubled. With his son and army dead, all his strength and enthusiasm vanished. He became deeply sorrowful in his heart. Only one of his sons survived, and he made him king, instructing him to rule according to Kshatriya dharma. Vishwamitra himself went into the forest. He stayed in the region served by Kinnaras and Nagas on the side of the Himalayas and began intense penance to please Lord Shiva.

After a long  time, Lord Shiva, the God of gods, appeared and said, 'O King! Why are you performing penance? Tell me what you desire. I have come to grant you a boon; ask whatever you wish.' Hearing this, the great ascetic Vishwamitra bowed and said, 'O Lord! If you are pleased with me, please grant me the knowledge of Dhanurveda and its secrets.' 'Let me gain knowledge of the weapons known only to devas, demons, sages, Gandharvas, Yakshas, and Rakshasas, through your grace. This is my desire.' Lord Shiva said, 'So be it,' and then departed. After gaining knowledge of various weapons from him, the mighty Vishwamitra became very proud. He returned to the ashrama and began using different weapons. The power of his weapons started burning the entire forest. Seeing this, hundreds of Vasishta's disciples, along with deer and birds, fled in fear in all directions. Vasishta kept saying, 'Do not fear,' yet his ashrama became deserted.

Now, Sage Vasishta, filled with anger, said to Vishwamitra, 'O fool! I have kept this ashrama lush and green for many years,  and today you have ruined it.' 'This is a great injustice. Now, you will not live in peace.' Saying this, Vasishta, blazing with anger like a smokeless fire, lifted his terrifying staff, like Yama's rod, and prepared to confront him. Then, filled with rage, Vishwamitra used Varuna, Raudra, Indra, Pashupata, and Aishika astras. After that, he used various weapons one by one: Manava, Mohana, Gandharva, Swapana, Jambhana, Santapana, Vilapana, Soshana, Vidarana, Vajra, Brahmapasha, Kalapasha, Varunapasha, Pinaka, dry and wet thunderbolts, Dandashtra, Paishachastra, Kraunchastra, Dharmachakra, Kalachakra, Vishnuchakra, Vayavyastra, Manthanashtra, Hayashira, two types of Shakti, Kankala, Musala, Vaidyadharashtra, Kala, fearsome Trishulastra, Kapalastra, and Kankanashtra — all aimed at Vasishta.

This was amazing, but even more astonishing was that Vasishta, the son of Brahma, calmed all those weapons with just his staff. After the weapons were subdued, Vishwamitra, son of Gadhi, used the Brahmastra. When the Brahmastra was unleashed, even the gods like Agni, the sages, Gandharvas, and great Nagas were terrified. The beings of all three worlds trembled. But Vasishta, using the power of his Brahmanic energy, subdued that terrifying weapon with his Brahmadanda. At that time, flames mixed with smoke began to emerge from all the pores of his body like rays of light. The Brahmadanda, held in Vasishta's hand, blazed like a smokeless fire, resembling Yama's second rod. Seeing his display of power, all the sages praised him, saying, 'O Brahmin! Your strength is infallible.' 'Now, please withdraw your energy by your own strength. The mighty Vishwamitra has been defeated by you.' 'Now calm down, so that people's suffering can be eased.'

Hearing the sages, the radiant Vasishta calmed down, and the defeated Vishwamitra sighed deeply and said, 'Curse the strength of the Kshatriya!' 'The strength obtained from Brahmanic energy is the true power; today, one Brahmadanda has subdued all my weapons.' 'Therefore, I will now purify my mind and senses and perform the great penance that will lead to my attainment of Brahminhood.'

Knowledge Bank

Does Shalagrama require prana pratishta?

No. Shalagrama and Banalinga do not require prana pratishta.

Who were the foster parents of Karna?

Adhiratha and Radha. Adhiratha was the superintendent of the chariots of the Kuru dynasty. Radha was his wife.