by Anita Nair
The twins appealed to Chyavana for help. ‘He will listen to you,’ they said. So the sage went to meet Indra. But Indra refused to change his mind.
Chyavana could be as obstinate as Indra. He wanted to repay his debt to the twins and so he decided to perform a sacrifice that would procure the soma for them.
The other gods watched meekly but Indra was furious and rushed with a mountain in one hand and his thunderbolt in the other to crush Chyavana and disrupt the sacrifice.
As Indra approached, the sage sprinkled some water and stopped Indra’s hands in mid-air. Then he created a fierce open-mouthed monster called Mada.
Mada had enormous teeth. His incisors and grinders were like jagged mountains. When he opened his jaws, one jaw enclosed the earth and the other, heaven.
With one terrible slow sound, Mada began to swallow the two worlds. There were screams and howls and cries of pain and fear as people began to slide down his gullet.
Indra and the gods were stuck at the root of Mada’s tongue. Just as Mada was about to close his mouth, Indra cried, ‘Your Holiness, listen to me. I am sorry for what I did.’
‘Really?’ asked the sage grimly.
Knowing there was no escape, Indra agreed to let the Ashwin twins drink the soma.
Thus Chyavana repaid the twins for their favour.
How Dadhyanch Saved the Earth
Atharvan was the eldest son of Brahma and it was to him Brahma first revealed Brahma-vidya or knowledge of the gods. Dadhyanch was the son of Atharvan. He was a sage whose breadth of knowledge was immense but it still didn’t measure up to the scope of his father’s. So Dadhyanch set about filling the gaps. After he performed many a severe penance, Indra appeared before him.
‘What boon do you require?’ Indra asked.
‘Teach me the sciences you know,’ the sage said.
Indra agreed to teach him certain sciences of healing. However, there was one condition. ‘If you share this knowledge with anyone else, I shall cut off your head,’ Indra told Dadhyanch. Dadhyanch agreed, and in return was taught all the celestial healing sciences.
Soon the Ashwin twins heard about the boon Dadhyanch had received. They went to him and begged and pleaded that he teach them the sciences too.
‘How can I?’ the sage said. ‘Indra will cut my head off if he knows that I have disobeyed him.’
‘We will take care of that,’ the twins promised. ‘Don’t you trust us?’
So Dadhyanch taught them all that Indra had taught him. To save him from Indra’s wrath, the twins replaced his head with a horse’s. And waited.
When Indra heard that Dadhyanch had broken his promise, he struck off the sage’s head. The twins immediately restored Dadhyanch’s real head. And all was well.
As long as Dadhyanch lived on the earth, his presence was enough to control the asuras, but once he went to heaven, the asuras began to rule the earth, causing much chaos and distress.
Indra went to battle with them but was unable to defeat them.
‘If only Dadhyanch had left something of his behind, I could have fashioned a weapon out of it to defeat the asuras,’ he told the other gods.
Then the Ashwin twins reminded him of the horse’s head, which had been Dadhyanch’s for a while. ‘It lies at the bottom of a lake near Kurukshetra,’ they said.
Indra dredged the horse’s head out. With the bones, he made weapons and foiled nine times ninety stratagems of the asuras. And peace was restored on earth.
Why Gadhinandana Became a Sage
King Gadhi had a daughter named Satyavati whom he gave in marriage to an old brahmin called Richika.
Since his wife was from the warrior race, Richika wanted her to have a child who would be more interested in religion and a religious life. So he gave her a plate of food which would ensure that the child would be born with those qualities.
As it happened, Satyavati’s mother was also pregnant at the same time and he gave her a plate of food which would help her have a child with warrior-like qualities befitting a king’s child.
However, the mother insisted that she and her daughter exchange the plates. As a result of this exchange, the king’s son Gadhinandana, a kshatriya, was born with a great interest in religion and religious matters, and Satyavati bore Jamad-Agni, the father of Parasurama, the warrior-brahmin.
Gadhinandana grew up to be a mighty king. No one could defeat him in battle, and his kingdom was wealthy and powerful. Every now and then he went touring through his various kingdoms and, on one such visit, he came to a hermitage that was serene and beautiful. ‘Who lives here?’ he asked his minister and was told that it was the sage Vashishta’s hermitage.
Meanwhile Sage Vashishta heard that there was a guest and went to greet him. The king and the sage talked for a great length of time and as it was drawing close to lunchtime, the king rose and told the sage, ‘I must leave now. But it has been a great pleasure to have spent this morning with you.’
Vashishta gestured for the king to sit and said, ‘Why leave in such a hurry? You must dine with us …’
The king smiled apologetically. ‘If it was just me and a few ministers, I would have stayed gladly. But I have my army with me and it has to be fed as well.’
‘Is that all?’ the sage smiled. ‘There is food enough for everyone here.’
Gadhinandana was surprised by the sage’s words. How could a small ashram feed an entire army at such short notice? However, he did not want to offend Sage Vashishta, so he sent word to the army commanders to bring the men in.
As the king watched, the inmates of the hermitage produced a wondrous feast. Hundreds of dishes were served in gold bowls and silver plates. There were silk-covered chairs and cushions to sit on. The food was like nothing they had ever tasted before and there was as much as all of them could eat. When each one of them was replete, the king couldn’t contain his curiosity.
‘I have never eaten such a fine meal or seen anyone arrange a feast at such short notice. How did you manage to do it?’ he asked the sage.
Vashishta smiled and waved his hand as though to dismiss the query. ‘Aren’t you satisfied? Why know where it came from?’
‘The satisfaction would be complete if I knew the answer,’ Gadhinandana replied.
Vashishta thought for a moment. Then he said, ‘I have never told anyone outside the ashram about this, but I shall reveal my secret to you.’
He led the king to a lovely meadow where there was a cow with the head of a beautiful woman. ‘This is Kamadhenu,’ he said. ‘She is one of the rarest treasures that emerged when the cosmic ocean was churned. As I was the officiating priest, she was given to me. She has the power to give people whatever they desire.’
The king looked at Kamadhenu and thought that she ought to belong to him. ‘This wonder-cow deserves to live in a palace,’ he said.
‘Oh, I am very happy here,’ Kamadhenu replied, sensing trouble.
‘I don’t mean that,’ the king said. ‘A wonder-cow like you will be a great asset in my palace.’ He turned to the sage and said, ‘Imagine the number of people who come visiting—kings, generals, sages, priests—a cow like this will ensure that they are provided the best. I must have her and I will give you whatever you want in return. Just name the price. A million cows or a thousand elephants? Gold and silver? Whatever …’
But the sage shook his head and said, ‘I cannot let her go. She is like my own sister. I love her too dearly, and besides, we need her here. Every day we perform sacrifices and she provides us with the holy ingredients. If those sacrifices don’t take place, the world will be plagued by many troubles.’
But the king was adamant and refused to see reason. He called ten of his men and said, ‘Take this cow to my palace. Be careful how you handle her. No harm is to come to her.’
Kamadhenu watched sorrowfully as the soldiers hastened to take her away. ‘Are you going to let me go?’ she asked Vashishta.
‘No, my dear sister. It is time for you to protect yourself,
but see that you do not create more damage than necessary,’ Vashishta said.
So the cow shook herself and from her hair dropped ten fully armed soldiers. They quickly attacked and defeated the king’s men. Gadhinandana was both enraged and amazed. His desire to possess Kamadhenu grew more intense. He called for more men. Kamadhenu shook herself again and more men emerged, enough to match the number of soldiers the king had summoned.
When Kamadhenu withdrew from the battle, there was just one soldier left of the king’s vast army.
Gadhinandana stood with his head bowed and said, ‘These soldiers were the finest in the world. But even they were no match for the ones Kamadhenu brought forth. What power is it that makes her so strong?’
Vashishta shook his head. Gadhinandana was truly an unusual man. Here he was, a ruined man—for what is a king without his army?—and he was still seeking answers.
‘I appreciate your spirit of inquiry. So it is my duty to give you an answer. This strength or power as you call it comes from within. In each one of us is a great vein of strength, an almost god-like power. All we need to do is seek and nothing will be impossible after that.’
The king looked at the sage as if he couldn’t believe his ears. ‘But how does one reach that inner power?’
‘By concentrating and seeking that inner strength to the exclusion of everything else,’ the sage said. Gadhinandana said, ‘I understand. One day I too shall possess the power that you have and only then will I rest.’
The king advised his ministers to go back to his kingdom and rule it in his place. He gave away his royal clothing and donned the robes of a sage. He now had a single aim: he would not rest till he was Vashishta’s equal.
How the King Became Vishwamitra
King Gadhinandana went deep into a forest on the slopes of a mountain and there, by the side of a stream, he performed rigorous austerities. He meditated for a thousand years and achieved such a perfect state of concentration that Shiva appeared before him and wanted to know why he was subjecting himself to such pains.
‘I want to be Vashishta’s equal. I want to have an army that matches his. I would like to possess and be able to use the Brahma-astra,’ Gadhinandana said.
Shiva granted him these wishes.
The king summoned the army of fearless warriors bequeathed to him by Shiva and rushed to Vashishta’s hermitage. ‘I shall show the sage who is stronger,’ he said to himself.
As the vast army drew closer, the inmates of the ashram began to fear what was to happen to them. ‘Do not worry,’ Vashishta said. ‘Go about your duties. No harm shall come to any of you.’
When the king’s archers began to shoot arrows at the hermitage, the arrows fell to the ground, bent and twisted. It was as if the hermitage was cloaked in a metal armour. The king and his men tried their best but to no avail.
Finally, Gadhinandana brought out the Brahma-astra, the deadliest of weapons which would find its target and raze it to ashes. But when he hurled it at the ashram, it had no effect.
Defeated, the king stood at the door of the hermitage and cried, ‘Sage, tell me what makes you more powerful than me.’
Vashishta laughed. ‘You are a warrior and will always remain one. So you seek blessings to destroy me. But I will not blame you for that. You are destined to behave that way.’
‘I do not agree,’ the king retorted. ‘Our birth cannot decide how we behave. I shall prove to you that I too can be a brahma rishi just like you.’
The king retired to the forest and began another thousand years of penance. Brahma appeared before the king and said, ‘You have proved yourself. Henceforth, you shall be called Vishwamitra.’
The king looked pleased but he was still not satisfied. ‘What kind of rishi am I?’ he asked.
‘You shall be a raja rishi, a kingly sage,’ Brahma said.
‘But I want to be a brahma rishi. I want to be Vashishta’s equal,’ the king cried.
‘You will be a raja rishi,’ Brahma said and disappeared.
The king who was now known as Vishwamitra couldn’t get Vashishta out of his mind. He began to look for ways to prove that he was Vashishta’s equal or even superior.
Why the River Saraswati Disappeared
Once Sage Vishwamitra ordered River Saraswati to bring Vashishta to him.
The river pleaded with the sage. ‘Please do not use me to settle your disputes. You are both great souls, how can I favour one more than the other?’
Vishwamitra grew angry and said, ‘If you do not bring the sage to me, I shall curse that you remain dry forever.’
River Saraswati went to Vashishta and explained what had happened. Then she said, ‘I do not care if he curses me. But I shall not take you to him. Instead I shall take you farther away from him.’
When Vishwamitra realized what had happened, he cursed the river that henceforth her waters would turn into blood. To escape the sage’s wrath, Saraswati went underground and, to this day, has never come to the surface again.
Once there was a great drought. Crops failed, plants and trees withered, and there was no food anywhere. The brahmins, who were vegetarians, suffered more than other people who ate meat, as there was no food available anywhere for them. The need to find food kept them occupied, and in this relentless search they had no time to study the Vedas. Soon, the holy texts were forgotten.
The river Saraswati had a son called Saraswata, who was a brahmin. When this drought started, River Saraswati met her son secretly and said, ‘Every day I shall feed you the fish that live in my subterranean waters. They shall keep you alive till such time as the drought passes.’
And so Saraswata lived on fish. He was the only brahmin who managed to keep up with his studies.
When the drought was over, the brahmins realized that they had forgotten the Vedas. ‘What shall we do?’ they asked each other.
Then someone said, ‘Saraswata hasn’t forgotten any of the Vedas. We should ask him to teach us.’
‘How can we?’ an old brahmin said. ‘He has sinned. He has survived by eating fish. By going to him, we would be sinning too.’
Then another old brahmin said, ‘We ought not to cut our nose to spite our face. Saraswata alone knows the Vedas. And a man who knows the Vedas is not a sinner. He did what he had to, to stay alive without committing a crime. He didn’t steal or murder, he didn’t take food from others and he didn’t beg either. And that is a human being’s prime duty—to try and stay alive without straying from the path of righteousness. I suggest that we ask Saraswata to help us.’
One section of them saw wisdom in the old man’s words and went to Saraswata. And he in turn taught sixty thousand of them everything about the Vedas. To this day, the descendants of those sixty thousand men are known as Saraswat Brahmins.
Why a New Heaven Was Created for Trishankhu
Satya Vrata was a king of the sun dynasty. He was a good and pious man, and he looked after the interests of his subjects as though they were his children. All the people in his kingdom loved him dearly. They would often bless him and say, ‘When he dies, his soul will surely go to heaven.’
King Satya Vrata heard their blessings and soon he became obsessed with a thought: ‘Why is it that I should go to heaven only after I die? I would like to experience heaven the way I am. I would like to ascend to heaven with this body of mine.’
The more the king thought about it, the more convinced he was of the idea. So he decided to conduct a great sacrifice that would allow him to ascend to heaven with his body.
Finally, he broached the idea to his head priest, the sage Vashishta.
Vashishta laughed when he heard the king’s desire. ‘What is wrong with you? Don’t you know that mortals cannot go to heaven in their bodies? Only the soul is permitted entry into heaven. Don’t ask me to perform the impossible.’
King Satya Vrata was upset but he hid his anger at Vashishta’s words and decided to visit Vashishta’s sons. He hoped that they would be awed by him and agree to perform the sa
crifice.
‘Please make preparations for a great sacrifice. I want to ascend to heaven in my body,’ he said, quite certain that they would do as he asked.
But Vashishta’s sons became angry when they heard his request. ‘How dare you come to us when our father has already said it is impossible? Don’t you have any sense of propriety? And for that you deserve to be cursed. Henceforth, the graveyard will be your home and tending to funeral pyres your duty. You are now a chandala.’ Vashishta’s sons cursed him and sent him on his way.
But the king, despite the humiliation and the curse, still wouldn’t give up his dream. On his way back to the palace, he met the sage Vishwamitra.
‘Why do you look so glum?’ Vishwamitra asked the king.
When Satya Vrata explained his dilemma, Vishwamitra was secretly delighted. He still wanted to show Vashishta that he was his superior, and this seemed the perfect opportunity. He said, ‘Is that all? Don’t worry. I shall send you to heaven in your body.’
Satya Vrata was overjoyed.
Vishwamitra arranged for a great sacrifice and Satya Vrata sat at his side as they lit the holy fire and began chanting the various mantras. Soon the moment arrived when Satya Vrata began to ascend to heaven. Everyone watched in wonder as he rose through the air. They hailed Vishwamitra as the greatest sage ever.
Suddenly, however, all rejoicing stopped, for they could see a strange sight.
There was Satya Vrata coming back to earth head first. Vishwamitra raised his hand and stopped the king mid-flight. ‘You fool, why are you coming back? What happened?’ he demanded.
‘When I reached heaven, Indra and the other gods wouldn’t let me in. They said I couldn’t come in there with my body and kicked me down!’ said Satya Vrata sadly.