Mahabharata Vol. 1 (Penguin Translated Texts) (50 page)

‘“The great-souled Vashishtha possessed a kamadhenu. When she was asked to give, she produced whatever was desired. O Arjuna! She yielded products of villages and forests, herbs, milk, juices with six different flavours
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that tasted like ambrosia itself, and different types of food that could be chewed, drunk, eaten, licked and sucked, all tasting like ambrosia. The king was honoured with everything that he desired, in abundant measure. He, his ministers and his entourage were greatly satisfied. With great surprise, he
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saw Vashishtha’s beautiful and unblemished cow, named Nandini
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—six measures long, three measures wide and five measures around, with beautiful flanks and thighs, with eyes prominent like those of frogs, with a beautiful carriage, large udders, beautiful tail, uplifted and straight ears, handsome horns and a well-developed head and neck. O king! Gadhi’s son was gratified with what he saw and saluted the cow. The king
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then spoke to the rishi,
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‘O Brahmana! O great sage! Give me Nandini in exchange for my kingdom or for 10,000 cows. Enjoy the kingdom.’ Vashishtha said, ‘O unblemished king! I keep this milk-yielding cow for the sake of the gods, ancestors, guests and
sacrificial offerings. Nandini cannot be given away, even in exchange for your kingdom.’ Vishvamitra said, ‘I am a Kshatriya and you are only a Brahmana devoted to studies and austerities. How can there be strength in Brahmanas who are peaceful and control themselves? If you don’t give me what I want in exchange for 10,000 cows, I will not give up my own dharma. I will take the cow away by force.’ Vashishtha said, ‘You are a powerful king with an army with you. You are a Kshatriya with valour in your arms. Do what you wish quickly, and without thinking over it.’ O Partha! Thus, addressed, Vishamitra seized the cow Nandini, as translucent as a swan or the moon.

‘“He dragged her here and there and beat her with a stick. The blessed Nandini bellowed piteously and came to Vashishtha. O Partha! She stood near the illustrious sage and raised her head up at him. Though she had been beaten a lot, she did not leave the hermitage. Vashishtha said, ‘O fortunate Nandini! I hear your repeated cries. But you are being taken away by force. What can a forgiving Brahmana do?’ O bull among the Bharata lineage! Frightened by the force of Vishvamitra’s army and frightened by Vishvamitra himself, she came closer to Vashishtha. Nandini said, ‘O illustrious one! Why do you overlook it when I am beaten by the sticks and lashes of Vishamitra’s fearful army? Why do you orphan me when I am crying?’ O Partha! The great sage did not lose his patience. Nor did he deviate from his rigid vows
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on hearing her cries of suffering. Vashishtha said, ‘A Kshatriya’s strength is his energy. A Brahmana’s strength is his forbearance. I cannot give up forbearance. If you wish, go.’ Nandini said, ‘O illustrious one! O Brahmana! Are you forsaking me in this way? If you do not forsake me, I cannot be taken away by force.’ Vashishtha said, ‘O blessed one! I am not forsaking you. Stay, if you can. Tethered with a strong rope, your calf is now being taken away by force.’ Hearing him say ‘stay’, Vashishtha’s cow raised up her head and neck and became fearful to look at.

‘“Eyes red with anger and with thunderous bellows, she attacked Vishvamitra’s army from all sides. Stung with their sticks and lashes
and being dragged here and there, her anger increased and her eyes became red with rage. A shower of burning embers was unleashed from her tail. She blazed with anger like the midday sun. She created an army of pahlavas
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from her tail, an army of shabaras
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and shakas
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from her dung and an army of yavanas
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from her urine. She swooned with anger. From her froth, she produced pundras, kiratas,
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dramidas,
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Simhalas,
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barbaras,
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daradas
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and mlecchas.
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When she had produced these many armies of mlecchas, clad in different types of armour and armed with different types of weapons, before Vishvamitra’s own eyes, she scattered with her ferocious troops his large army. Every single one of his soldiers was surrounded by five or seven of hers and with a shower of weapons was dispersed and fled in all directions in panic. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Though greatly enraged, not a single one of Vishvamitra’s soldiers was separated from his life by a single one of Vashishtha’s. Vishvamitra’s army was driven 3 yojanas away and though it cried out in panic, there was no saviour to be found.

‘“On seeing this amazing sight born out of a Brahmana’s powers, Vishvamitra was disgusted with his Kshatriya powers and said, ‘A curse on my Kshatriya powers! The true power is that of a Brahmana. In judging weakness and strength, I see that true strength arises from the power of austerities.’ He gave up his prosperous kingdom and his radiant regal fortune. Turning his back on all pleasures, he decided to devote himself to austerities. Through his power of austerities, he became successful and filled the worlds with his radiance. Through
all his radiant energy, he became a Brahmana and Kushika’s son
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eventually drank the soma
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juice with Indra himself.”’

‘The gandharva said, “O Partha! In the world, there was a king named Kalmashapada. He was born in the lineage of Ikshvaku and he was unrivalled on earth in his prowess. One day, the king left his capital to go on a hunt in the forest. That chastiser of enemies shot many deer and boars. Hungry and thirsty, the king followed a narrow path and met Vashishtha’s great-souled son on the way. The son was an illustrious sage and his name was Shakti. He was the illustrious extender of Vashishtha’s lineage and was the eldest of the great-souled Vashishtha’s 100 sons. As they came face to face in opposite directions on the narrow path, the king said, ‘Move off from our path.’ The rishi then spoke to him in a soothing and kind voice, but did not yield the path, because he was following the path of dharma.
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Out of pride and anger at the sage, the king did not yield the path either. When the sage refused to give way, the best of kings, deluded like a rakshasa, struck the sage with his whip. Thus struck by the whip, Vashishtha’s son, the best of sages, was angered and cursed the best of kings. ‘O worst of kings! Since you have struck an ascetic like a rakshasa, from today you will become a maneater. O corrupt king! Go from here and wander around the earth, eating human flesh.’ Thus, Shakti cursed him through the strength of his powers.

‘“Vashishtha and Vishvamitra had had a quarrel over who should be the officiating priest.
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At that time, Vishvamitra, came to that
place. O Partha! The immensely powerful Vishvamitra, the rishi with great austerities, neared the place where the two were quarrelling. After the curse on the great king, the rishi
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recognized that the rishi
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was none other than Vashishtha’s son, as powerful as Vashishtha himself. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Desiring to bring some benefit to himself, Vishamitra remained there, but concealed himself by making himself invisible from them. Having been cursed by Shakti, that best of kings
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sought Shakti’s mercy and worshipped him, so as to pacify him. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Knowing the king’s nature, Vishvamitra ordered a rakshasa to enter the king’s body. Because of the Brahmana rishi’s curse and because of Vishvamitra’s instruction, a rakshasa named Kimkara then entered the king’s body. O chastiser of enemies! Knowing that the rakshasa had entered the king’s body, Vishvamitra, the best of sages, went away.

‘“Thereafter, the wise king was possessed and tormented by the rakshasa within him and found it difficult to save himself. A certain Brahmana saw the king roaming in the forest. Being hungry, he begged for some food with meat. Rajarshi Kalmashapada Mitrasaha
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said, ‘O Brahmana! Stay here for a while. When I return, I will give you the food you desire to have.’ Having said this, the king went away and that best of Brahmanas remained there. But when he entered the inner quarters of his palace, the king forgot about his promise to the Brahmana and remembered it only at midnight. He told his cook, ‘Go to the forest. A Brahmana is waiting for me there, hoping to get some food. Take some meat to him.’ Having been thus addressed, the cook could not find any meat anywhere and came and sorrowfully informed the king about this. Possessed by the rakshasa, the king unhesitatingly told the cook, ‘Feed him human flesh,’ and repeated
his instructions. Agreeing, the cook quickly went to where executioners lived and took some human flesh from them. Washing it and cooking it properly, he mixed it with rice and quickly took it to the hungry and ascetic Brahmana.

‘“Through his ascetic sight, the best of Brahmanas immediately recognized the food to be forbidden. His eyes red with anger, he said, ‘That worst of kings has offered me food that is forbidden. Therefore, that deluded one will himself become fond of such food. Becoming fond of human flesh, as Shakti had cursed him earlier, he will roam the earth and persecute all beings.’ Repeated for the second time, the curse on the king became very strong. Being possessed by the rakshasa, the king soon lost all his senses. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing Shakti, that best of kings, having been deprived of his senses by the rakshasa within him, said, ‘Because you have imposed this unparalleled curse on me, I shall begin my man-eating predicament by eating you first.’ Having said this, the king immediately separated Shakti from his life and ate him up, the way a tiger devours its favoured prey. Having seen Shakti killed thus, Vishvamitra urged the rakshasa to kill Vashishtha’s other sons. Like an angry lion devours small animals, he ate up all the younger sons of the great-souled Vashishtha.

‘“When Vashishtha learnt that Vishvamitra had conspired to get his sons killed, he bore his grief patiently, like a great mountain bears the earth. That best of sages, chief among those who are intelligent, resolved to sacrifice himself rather than set his mind on extinguishing the Kushika lineage. The illustrious rishi threw himself down from the peak of Mount Meru and his head struck the stones like a bale of cotton. O Pandava! When the illustrious one found that the fall did not kill him, he lit a fire in that great forest and entered it. But though the flames blazed up high, they did not kill him. O chastiser of enemies! Instead, the blazing flames cooled him. Seeing the ocean, the grief-stricken and great sage tied a heavy stone around his neck and flung himself into the water. But the strong waves brought the great sage back to the shore. With a sorrowful heart, he then returned to his hermitage.”’

‘The gandharva said, “On seeing that his hermitage was bereft of his sons, the grief-stricken sage left it again. O Partha! He saw a river swollen with the new water of the rainy season. It was sweeping away many trees that grew along the banks. O descendant of Puru! On seeing this, the miserable one again began to think that he would certainly be killed in this water. Thereupon, the great sage bound himself with strong ropes and, struck with great grief, flung himself into the waters of that great river. O chastiser of enemy armies! But the river tore those ropes away and, unfettered, washed the rishi up onto the bank. Freed from the bindings, the great rishi arose and gave the river the name of Vipasha.
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‘“However, his mind was obsessed with grief and he did not stay in any one place. He went to mountains, rivers and lakes. Seeing once more the terrible river Himavati,
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terrible of appearance and full of fierce animals, he once more flung himself into its waters. That best of rivers, thinking that the Brahmana was fire, immediately fled in a hundred directions and thereafter came to be known as Shatadru.
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Finding that he was once again on dry land, he exclaimed that he was unable to die at his own hands and returned to his hermitage.

‘“When he was returning to his hermitage, his daughter-in-law Adrishyanti followed him. As she came near, he heard the sound of Vedic incantations, embellished with the fullness of meaning of the six branches.
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‘Who is following me?’ he asked. ‘I am Adrishyanti, Shakti’s wife,’ his daughter-in-law answered. ‘O illustrious one! I am austere, engaged in austerities.’ Vashishtha said, ‘O daughter! Who is
reciting the Vedas and their angas that I hear? It is just as I have heard it from Shakti earlier.’ Adrishyanti said, ‘In my womb, there is a son begotten by Shakti. He has been there for twelve years. O sage! You have heard his recitations.’ Having been thus addressed by her, Vashishtha, the best of rishis, was greatly delighted. O Partha! Exclaiming that there was a son, he refrained from death.

‘“The unblemished one returned,
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accompanied by his daughter-in-law. He found Kalmashapada seated in the deserted forest. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing him,
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possessed by the rakshasa, the king arose in anger and sought to devour him. But seeing the king of evil deeds, Adrishyanti spoke to Vashishtha in fear and alarm, ‘O illustrious one! This terrible rakshasa looks like death himself, as he advances towards us with a fearful wooden club in his hand. O best among those who are learned in all the Vedas! Except you, no one on earth has the power to ward him off. O illustrious one! Save me from this evil one, whose form is terrible. Without a doubt, the rakshasa is advancing towards us to devour us.’”’

‘“Vashishtha said, ‘O daughter! Do not be frightened. There is nothing to be frightened of from a rakshasa. There is no danger from the one you see advancing. He is not a rakshasa. He is King Kalmashapada, powerful and famous on earth. That terrible one lives in this part of the forest.’”

‘The gandharva said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As he
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advanced towards them, the illustrious and energetic rishi Vashishtha stopped him with a roar. He sprinkled water sanctified with mantras over him and freed the good king from the terrible rakshasa. For twelve years, the king had been swallowed through the
energy of Vashishtha’s son, like the sun is swallowed by the one who swallows
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at the time of an eclipse. Thus freed from the rakshasa, the king reddened the great forest with his energy, like the sun illuminates the evening
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clouds. Regaining his senses, the king worshipped Vashishtha, the best of rishis, with joined palms and said, ‘O illustrious one! O best of Brahmanas! I am the son of Sudasa. You are my preceptor. Tell me what your wish is now and what I should do.’ Vashishtha said, ‘O lord of men! My desire was fulfilled when the right time arrived. Return to your kingdom and rule and never again disregard Brahmanas.’ The king said, ‘O illustrious one! I shall never again disregard the bulls among Brahmanas. In accordance with your instructions, I shall always worship the twice-born. O best among the twice-born! O best among those who are learned in the Vedas! I wish to obtain a boon from you, so that I can be freed from the debt I owe to the Ikshvaku lineage. I wish to have a son. Please go to my beloved queen,
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who is virtuous, beautiful and has all the qualities, so that the Ikshvaku lineage can be extended.’