Chapter 4; Visvamitra

Now Visvamitra is not just some mystic yogi or a gurukula teacher orsomething. Visvamitra was such a great powerful personality. He wasa great ksatriya. One day he was going on a big hunting tour, andwhile he was going, the tradition was that when you pass by agurukula or an ashrama, the kings must stop. And they must go thereand respect the saint. The saintly person in turn will feed theking, because the king will not carry so much ration when he goesinto the forest. And he's not going to live on fruits and roots,because he's the king, not some saintly person. He needs some feast,so the saintly person must arrange the feast. And for arranging thefeast the kings will always donate a lot of things to the saintlyperson. In this way there was a nice arrangement for making feastsand taking feasts. So this great army of Kaushika, Visvamitra, wascoming, and he had his hundred sons and he was thinking, "That's asmall ashrama there." He looked down into the valley and the ashramawas about four houses, and there was stream running nearby.Visvamitra thought, "My army of a hundred sons shouldn't go. You allstay here," he said to his sons. "It is a custom that I should goand respect this saintly person, so I will go there and then I willcome back. And if he asks to feed something to me that is alright,but he can't feed my whole army." So Kaushika went down, and therewas two brahmacaris washing cloth in the stream, so he asked them,"Whose ashrama is this?" The brahmacaris replied, "This is theashrama of Vasistha Muni." "Vasistha?" Kaushika asked. "He's in mycountry and I didn't even know." "He came three months ago," thebrahmacaris replied. He would always go like that. He stays in aplace for about three hundred years and then he moves to anotherashrama, because too many students come there and he doesn't like abig population. So whenever there is too many people he disappearswith one or two students and goes to open another school somewhereelse. "I would like to see him," Visvamitra said. So the brahmacaris brought him before Vasistha.Vasistha was making some thread from cotton. He was wearing a gamshaaround his waist and another around his shoulders. Kaushika wascoming with many ornaments and a golden crown, so he came in thereand took his crown off, and touched Vasistha's feet. He then said,"I am Kaushika and I am on a hunting trip. I have a hundred sons whoI have left on the highway and I have come here just to see you. Soyou please bless my kingdom." Vasistha said, "How is this possiblethat you are coming to my ashrama and going without a feast?"Visvamitra looked at the house with its grass roof and cow-dung floorand the whole ashrama was only three or four houses. "You're goingto give me a feast?" Visvamitra asked "How will I eat it without mysons?" "No no, your sons, your army, your castle, everyone. Bringthem here." "But where will they sit? You have only four huts.""Bring them here," Vasistha said very determinedly. "If I don'tbring them, he will curse," Visvamitra thought, so he went back tohis sons. "All of you come with me to this ashrama," he told them."You must be joking!" the sons replied. "If we all go to thatashrama, we will be crushed. There's no place in there." Visvamitrasaid, "This great rishi has asked, so we must go." They werethinking, "Even if we passed by there, by the sound of these chariotsthe roofs will cave in." Their chariots were huge with eighteenhorses each. Kaushika said, "I don't want to be cursed, so let's godown there." As they were going down into the valley they saw that abig township was there. Palaces, roads, and swimming pools. Peoplewere running out of the city. It was a city suddenly, and Kaushikawas thinking, "This is wonderful. Just in the time of closing myeyes there is a big city here. It's bigger than Mahismati, mycapital! Look at these palaces!" They were all looking at this andwondering, and then Vasistha came out and said, "What are you doing?You must all go and take bath. Feast is already prepared. It willget cold." So then after they took bath they came and thousands ofthem sat down on a big grass lawn. They saw no plates or anything infront of them, and Vasistha made them sit in rows. Visvamitra said,"What items are you going to give us, and how are you going to serveit?" Vasistha replied, "You can think of any plate you like, and youcan think of any item you like, and you can think of any quantity youlike, and you will get it." Visvamitra thought, "A diamond plate."Boom! And the diamond plate was there. And whatever he liked atthat time was coming, heaps and heaps and they were eating andeating, but still it was just coming and coming, and they were justeating all the items they had ever heard about. One person said,"What Indra eats on his birthday, I want that." So he got it.Everyone got everything they liked. They were so satisfied, and thenthey wanted to see a dance. "What dance do you want to see?"Vasistha asked them. Visvamitra said, "The dance that is seen byNarayana in Svetadvipa, I want to see that." "All right, you cansee," Vasistha replied. Immediately there was a stage. And therewas a wonderful stage by the celestials of Vaikuntha. And Visvamitrawas so envious. He was thinking, "What is this? Some baba, he ishaving so much opulence. I am a king, and I look like a beggar infront of him." So he came to Vasistha and asked, "Please tell me,what is the source of your opulence? I'm sure it's not this beard."Vasistha replied, "No, it's not my beard. It's my cow." Then heclapped his hands and he said, "Kama-dhenu, come here." And then akama-dhenu came. This cow had a long tail like a braid, and apeacock feather on the back. It had the breasts of a human female onher chest and the body of a cow. And in her whole body is thepotency of all the demigods. This cow came when the milk ocean waschurned for nectar, and was given to Vasistha by the Supreme Lord,because he p erformed wonderful sacrifices so he needed a lot ofwealth. Where could he go, because the kings were such small timers.Sometimes they would have wealth, and even though they had sometimesthey would say that they don't have. So he gave this cow. "You canget anything from this cow." Visvamitra said, "I will give you onemillion ordinary cows. You give me this cow." Vasistha said, "Youmust be a fool. One million ordinary cows, why should I take themand give you this special cow. If you give me one millionkama-dhenus then I can think of giving you this one." "But youknow," Visvamitra said, "according to the shastras, whatever is inthis land belongs to the king, and I am the king so it belongs tome." Vasistha said, "Look at the kama-dhenu again, Kaushika."Visvamitra looked at the cow and noticed that it was four feet offthe ground. "This cow does not belong to you," Vasistha said. "Onlyif it touches the earth does it belong to you." So Visvamitra wasdefeated. He said to Vasistha, "Look, you may have so muchtapovalam, but I am a ksatriya and I have so much strength, onehundred sons. I am not going to ask you for the cow, I am just goingto take. So he came behind the kama-dhenu and started to pull, andhis hundred sons were helping him. "What are you doing?" the cowsaid to Vasistha. "You are my protector, and you are not doinganything. This mleccha is taking me away." Kaushika said, "You arecalling me a mleccha?" "Yes, you are taking the property of aBrahmin, so you are a mleccha at least now, or in the next life youare going to be. Why are you doing this? This is nonsense, and eventhe Lord will not be tolerant of this, you will be finished. Yourwhole dynasty will be finished, this is my curse." Visvamitra said,"You are a cow, so don't talk so much. Just come with me." So thenVasistha said, "Don't do this. She does not like it. If she likedit, then you could take her, but she does not like it." StillVasistha was keeping his anger inside, not showi ng it. "You keepquiet," Kaushika said. "I am taking the cow." Vasistha said,"Where are your 100 sons? I will show my power on them, because Idon't want to finish you. If you are there you can produce another100 sons. Show me your sons." "Here are my sons," Kaushika said,and then Vasistha looked at them and they were all gone. And then hesaid, "Kaushika, do you want to become a heap of ash? Then you'dbetter run away from me." Then Kaushika, in great disgust left theashrama. He went to the Himalayas and performed austerities for 300years to please Mahadeva. Lord Siva came, and asked Kaushika, "Whatbenediction do you want?" There's one great thing about abenediction from Siva. If you take a benediction from him, it isonly for your destruction. His benedictions will only destroy, theywill never give anything good. Unless you ask for love of God, ordevotion, but if one has approached Siva he generally doesn't ask forthese things. So Siva was asking, "What benediction do you want?"Or in other words, how do you want to be destroyed? So then Kaushikasaid, "I must have all the divine weapons. All the weapons thatIndra has, Agni has, Varuna has, all of them must come to my mind,and I must control them. I must be a rajarishi." "Yes, you are arajarishi," Siva said. "Now stop doing austerities, because it isburning my body. Go." Then Visvamitra immediately flew toVasistha's ashrama. Vasistha was having an oil bath, having oilmassaged on his body. When someone is having an oil on the bodyyou're not supposed to talk to him or talk in conversation. Kaushikadid not even give him a challenge or anything, he just immediatelystarted doing all the astras on Vasistha. Vasistha was still sittingthere getting oil on his body, and the first thing that Visvamitrathrew was a brahmastra. "Suddenly so much heat is in mustard oil,"Vasistha said. "It's not that hot!" So then Vasistha looked overhis shoulder and saw the brahmastra. "My God! What is he doing?Who taught him these weapons? He does n't know where to put them!He's throwing them here, but I am having an oil massage here.Kaushika, stop doing this nonsense!" Then came Agni astra, and thencame Vayu astra. They were all coming one after another. "This istoo much," Vasistha said, and he looked around. He saw his walkingstick, which was getting old, so he took that and threw it out. Thenhe continued with his massage. The walking stick came out and facedthe brahmastra. The brahmastra touched this walking stick, and itbecame like ice, and fell down. Then came the Agni astra, which cameemanating so much fire, and all the trees were burnt, but when itfaced the stick this astra was also pulled down. Then Vayu astracame, and all the astras that he learnt from Lord Siva were all usedup, pulled down by the stick. Then the stick started moving towardsVisvamitra, so Visvamitra started running away. As he crossed thearea of Vasistha's ashrama, the stick went down and Vasistha kept itdown. Then Visvamitra sat up and he was thinking, "That is just astick that he uses for walking. What will happen if he takes a bow?What will happen to me then? So this rajarishi is no good, I willbecome a brahmarishi." So again he went up to the Himalayas, and heperformed tapasya for such a long time that Brahma came to him."What do you want?" Brahma asked. "Why are you troubling me likethis?" "I want to be a brahmarishi," said Visvamitra. Brahma said,"Well I am Brahma, and I am calling you a rishi, so you are abrahmarishi. You be satisfied." Visvamitra said, "No, Vasisthashould say it." So Brahma brought Visvamitra to Vasistha and said,"Please call him brahmarishi." Vasistha looked at him and said,"What a great tapasa you have done! After all you are a ksatriya,you are supposed to be enjoying your senses. Simply by my challenge,you have become such a great rishi. Why brahmarishi? You are ajnanarishi, the rishi of saintly people. You are worshipable by me.Now Visvamitra, you stop your austerities." So Visvamitra stoppedhis austerities there, and he became well known as brahmarishi andwas moving around. Now, Tri-shanku, who was in the Iksvaku dynastysuddenly developed desires to go to the heavenly planet in this body.So he went to Vasistha who was his guru, Vasistha is guru for so manygenerations. "Please my guru, send me to the heavenly planets."Vasistha said, "Yes I can send you to heaven. You perform some piousactivities, next life you will go." Tri-shanku said, "No, not nextlife, this life." Vasistha said, "You die in this life, and then inthe next life you can go to heaven." "No, I don't want to wait. Iwant to go in this body." Vasistha asked, "Where did you get thiscrazy idea from?" Tri-shanku replied, "I am a very pious person. Ihave done so many nice things, and there is no complaint against me.Why shouldn't you send me?" Vasistha said, "That is very good, youare a pious person, a great king, but heavenly planet cannot beattained in this body." Tri-shanku said, "But you can adjust things,you are a great rishi." Vasistha replied, "No I can't adjust things,I can only follow the rules of God." Vasistha said, "If you can'tadjust things, then what kind of a guru are you?" Vasistha said,"Well if you don't want to be my disciple then I will go. I'm notgoing to teach the Iksvaku dynasty any more." Vasistha took hisdanda and walked out. Then Tri-shanku remembered that Vasistha alsohad a hundred sons, and they were doing tapasya somewhere in SouthIndia, so he went to South India and met these sons. He asked them,"Please send me to heaven in this same body." "What is thisnonsense? We can't do this," the sons replied. "Your father alsosaid the same thing." The sons said, "You mean our father said itcould not be done and now you are coming to us?" Tri-shanku said,"Yes, because young students like to do this sort of evolutionarystuff." The sons said, "Yes, we will do some evolution, you become achandala." So they cursed him, and suddenly his whole body turnedblack. Even his chadar which was golden turned black. All hisgolden ornaments turned into iron ornaments and his face becamecruel. So when he went back to Ayodhya, people laughed at him andkicked him out of the country. Then he was wandering in the forestand one day he saw a rishi standing on one leg. That was ourKaushika, Visvamitra, doing some other austerity now. He came to himand said, "You are so effulgent, like the Sun-god." Kaushika said,"Tell me what you want. And you seem to be a bit of a chandala, buteither way you are talking like a royal family man." The kingreplied, "I am Tri-shanku from the Iksvaku dynasty. I have beencursed by Vasistha's sons." As soon as he heard Vasistha's name, hegot fired up. "Why did they curse you? Who are they to curse you?"The king said, "I just asked them a small thing." "What did youask?" Vasistha inquired. "I asked them if I could go to heaven inthis body, and then they cursed me." Vasistha said, "What? You wantto go to heaven in this body? Where did you get this idea from?"The king replied, "One fine morning I got up, and I thought likethat." Visvamitra said, "See what happened to you, for entertainingthis idea?" The king thought that Visvamitra is cooling down, thisis no good. I had better get him fired up again. The king said,"That Vasistha said that no-one could do it." Visvamitra said, "Whatwas that? Repeat that again." "He said, no-one can do it."Visvamitra replied, "Who said no-one can do it? I can do it." Sothen Vasistha sent word to all the rishis saying, "I am doing ayajna, so you also come. I am going to ask the demigods to take himjust like this." All the rishis came because they were scared ofVisvamitra, that he would curse them too. So they came there, theywere all doing yajna and they were so scared. And then the demigodscame. Indra approached Visvamitra and asked, "Now what is thepurpose of this yajna? What do you need?" Visvamitra replied, "Wewant this man to go to heaven." Indra said, "So many people arecoming to heaven, I have no objection." "No no," Visvamitra replied,"Like this." Indra said, "What? Like this? No, that's notpossible. I can't let him in like this. I can't do it." Visvamitraprotested, "But this is a special case." Indra said, "No, specialcase nothing. I can't do it." Visvamitra said, "All right, if Icannot do it by yajna then I will do it by my austerities." So hetook the shruva, spoon which he was using to pour ghee, and hetouched Tri-shanku and said, "All right, Tri-shanku, fly now toheaven by my power." Then Tri-shanku disappeared from the earthlyplanet, and he was flying, flying through space. Indra was back inhis planet, and everyone was saying, "Indra, look who is coming.It's Tri-shanku." "Tri-shanku?" Indra said in disbelief. Then hetook his Vadra and hit him on the back and Tri-shanku came back atfull speed. So Visvamitra was sitting there peacefully andTri-shanku was crying, "Visvamitra, help me!" Visvamitra said, "Youare not coming back, you are going to heaven!" Visvamitra then usedsome more of his power and sent him back up. And then Indra sent himback again, and Visvamitra sent him back again, and then Indra senthim back. The third time when he was going towards heaven Tri-shankusaid, "I don't want to go to heaven! I would rather go to hell!Anything is better than this. What am I doing in outer space? Yousend me anywhere, but please stop this!" Visvamitra said, "No, Imade a promise to you. That promise must be kept, even if you don'twant. You must go to heaven!" And he sent him back. Indra said, "Idon't want you," and he kicked him back. This time Tri-shanku said,"Please Visvamitra, I don't want heaven. I realize now that it isvery bad to think like that. I just want to be a king somewhere.I'll be a beggar somewhere. Stop pushing me like this." Visvamitrasaid, "No. If they won't let you into heaven, I will create you aheaven. So he created a heaven. He created demigods, he createdIndra, he created Airavata, he crea ted everything by his tapovalam,and austerity was finished. So now, the planet has to be in orbitalso. No more tapovalam, so how are we going to put it in orbit?Then the whole heaven started to come down to earth, because that iswhere it was created. Now Visvamitra said, "O my God! Now heaven iscoming down and everything will be finished! What am I going to do?"Then he lifted his hands and said, "Hari! Hari!" The Lord appearedand asked, "Visvamitra, what is the problem? Usually you callBrahma, you never call Me. What happened to you?" Visvamitra said,"Look, look! Do something please, it is coming down!" The Lordsaid, "What is it? What is falling down?" Visvamitra replied, "Itis my creation." "Oh, it's your creation!" Visnu said. "So youmaintain it, I'm going." "No no no! Don't go, please do something.I only created it, I can't maintain it. It's not possible for me."The Lord said, "I will put my energy into it and maintain it." Sothe Supreme Lord entered into that heaven. This heaven is known asTri-shanku svarga, and it is still existing. The Lord put Tri-shankuthere to please Visvamitra. And then Visvamitra was saved, otherwisethese heavenly planets would come down and burn the earth planet andeverything else would be burnt. Then Narayana said, "Don't get intothis area. My zone is a very difficult zone, creating, maintaining,destroying. This is my work. You simply do tapasya, and blesspeople. Don't try to become Hari or there will be trouble."Visvamitra said, "I have realized it once and for all. I will not dothis any more." Then the Lord was so pleased with him for hisimmediate surrender that He said, "I will become your student inTreta-yuga." So in this way Ramacandra became Visvamitra's student.