SRI RAMACHARITRA MANJARI

(In this edition, the efforts that Vishwamitra continued to put in to attain the status of Brahma Rishi have been explained. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

In the meantime, Trishanku, a king and descendent of the dynasty of Ikshwaku, had a desire to physically enter the heavens. He appealed to sage Vasishtha to perform a sacrifice to get his desire realised. Sage Vasishtha told Trishanku that it was impossible to get into the heavens in the mortal form and that there was no sacrifice that could transform his dream into reality. He went to the children of Sage Vasishtha and raised the same issue with them. When they too rejected his plea, Trishanku said that he would get such a sacrifice performed from different Rishis. Enraged by this statement, the children of Vasishtha cursed Trishanku to become insane and transform into a Chandala. Wearing the same form of Chandala, Trishanku went to Vishwamitra and narrated the entire story. Vishwamitra performed the sacrifice and Trishanku reached the heavens. But, Lord Indra pushed Trishanku down. Infuriated by this act of Indra, sage Vishwamitra  stopped Trishanku, who was falling with his head down, midway, with the power of his penance. He began creating all the planets, other heavenly bodies. He created some stars in the sky. Frightened by what was happening around, the deities bestowed upon Trishanku the blessing that he could enjoy the same pleasure as the one available in the heavens. They also conceded that Trishanku be able to enjoy the new heavens with his head down and toe up. Because of this Trishanku incident, Vishwamitra had to lose a large portion of the power penance.

Vishwamitra again indulged in penance at Pushkarateerth. At this juncture, Indra stole away the sacrificial horse that the then Ayodhya King Ambareesha had begun. The priests categorically said that so long as the missing sacrificial was not brought, the sacrifice could not be completed. The priests also suggested a solution for the situation. If a human being could be offered as sacrifice, it could be completed, the priests said. Although the search was made in all directions, the sacrificial horse could not be found. As an alternative, one lakh cows were given to Rucheeka Maharishi in exchange for the second son of Rucheeka Maharishi, called Shunashshepa. While he was being taken for the sacrifice, Shunashshepa saw Vishwamitra at the Pushkara and he sought protection with Vishwamitra. Sage Vishwamitra summoned all children and ordered them to go and sacrifice their lives. The children directly refused to obey the orders of Vishwamitra. Enraged by his sons’ disobedience, Vishwamitra cursed them to become Chandalas. He then preached two Mantras and asked Shunashshepa to recite them. The deities were impressed with the recitation of Mantra by Shunashshepa and agreed to have the sacrifice completed without sacrificing any animal or human. This again reduced the power of penance for Vishwamitra.