The Pandavas were on a pilgrimage and reached the region of Kashmira. There, Rishi Lomasa pointed out various sacred sites like Rukmini’s ashram, the place where Nahusha, Agni, and Kasyapa conversed, the area where Rishi Vasishtha lived with Arundhati, and the Bhrigutunga Mountain with Rivers Jala and Upajala. It was here that King Usinara performed a sacrifice that made him surpass Vasava (Indra).
Yudhistira wanted to know about the yagna. Rishi Lomasa shared the story.
Once upon a time, King Usinara was performing a majestic yagna sacrifice to please the gods. He was known for being a righteous ruler who always followed dharma. Indra and Agni decided to test the king to determine if he was indeed as good as everyone claimed.
Indra became a hawk, and Agni turned into a dove. Agni flew into the site and rushed straight at Usinara to hide in his lap. The dove sought help from the king and requested for the protection of its life. Just then the hawk flew towards them. Usinara shielded the dove in his arms to prevent the hawk from harming it.
The hawk said to the king that he had dharma in his soul, so he shouldn’t stop the hawk from consuming its food (dove). It said by protecting the dove, the king was not following dharma.
Usinara replied that protecting whoever sought help was his dharma and he was doing exactly that. The dove went to help for safety, and he would provide the bird the same no matter what. When the hawk asked about its own hunger, the king said he would offer whatever food (except the dove), the hawk wanted. He listed various meats like ox, boar, deer, buffalo, etc.
The hawk said it didn’t want any other meat since the dove was marked as its meal. Becoming the hawk’s food was the dove’s destiny and the king shouldn’t interfere with it. However, Usinara didn’t agree and said he wouldn’t give up the dove but the hawk could ask for anything it wanted.
The hawk said that if the king had so much affection for the dove, he should cut a portion of his body as substitute food. Usinara agreed immediately and ordered a scale to be placed. He cut a hefty piece of his flesh and weighed it only to realize it wasn’t enough. He continued to add more such pieces but the dove was heavier. Finally, Usinara stepped onto the scale and asked the hawk to devour him completely.
The hawk and the dove transformed into Indra and Agni. They praised the king for his selflessness and determination to protect those who sought refuge from him. Healing his wounds, Indra sat through the yagna and accepted the offerings at the end. Indra and Agni blessed King Usinara that as long as men talked in this world, the story of his deed would be eternal.
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After listening to the story of King Mandhata, Yudhistira asked Rishi Lomasa to explain why King Somaka went to naraka with his guru.
The rishi obliged.
Once upon a time, there was a king named Somaka. He had a hundred wives and treated them equally. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have even a single son. After many years when the king and his wives were old, one of his wives gave birth to a son named Jantu. Being an only child among many women, they pampered the baby and wouldn’t let him go. They were distraught at his slightest discomfort and cried if he cried.
Over the next few weeks, the king was annoyed by this. He could hear their cries in the sabha and had to go and console the child as well as the women. Somaka was so annoyed that he said it was better to not have any children than to have a single son who was pampered to this extent. He said a single son was a cause of misery (nor did he have any hope that such a baby would grow up to be a formidable ruler).
The king told his priests that they were now old and didn’t have much hope of having more children. He asked if there was any ceremony or yagna that would give him a hundred sons. Somaka said he would perform it even if it was difficult.
One of the priests said that there was indeed a way. The king said he didn’t mind if it was the right method or not. As long as he would get a hundred sons, he was okay with the process. The priest explained that they would have to sacrifice Jantu for this. Jantu would be reborn to the same woman (with a golden identification mark) along with another ninety-nine sons.
King Somaka agreed and asked the priest to make the arrangements. The king took the baby boy to the yagna and handed him over to the priest. However, his wives tugged the boy back and wailed. The priest managed to grab Jantu and completed the yagna. The women were distressed at the sight and fell unconscious. However, they involuntarily inhaled the smoke from the yagna.
Soon, all of them gave birth to a son each. Jantu was reborn to his mother and had a golden birthmark on his left side. Seeing this, the women loved Jantu more than their sons and pampered him again. Nevertheless, this time, Jantu grew up to be a man of good qualities and a capable ruler.
Many years passed. The priest died of old age. Later, King Somaka also passed away. The king was taken to hell where he saw his priest being cooked in a pot. He was outraged and asked them to free his guru. He asked Yama Dharmaraja why a noble Brahmin was in hell. The god of dharma replied that his priest performed an adharmic yagna (killing a child to beget more children) and was being cleansed of his sins. Somaka asked Yama to let his guru go to heaven and that he would face the punishment instead since the yagna was for him.
Yama Dharmaraja replied that every person had to face the consequences of their actions. Somaka said he would also stay in hell with his priest. He went through the same punishments as his guru and when they were cleansed, they were sent to heaven.
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When Rishi Lomasda and the Pandavas reached the Yamuna River, the rishi told them about the importance of the sacred site and how King Mandhata performed many sacrifices there. Yudhistira asked for more information, so the rishi narrated the story about the birth of Mandhata.
King Yuvanashva belonged to the Ikshvaku lineage and was the king of the world. He performed a thousand Ashwamedha yangas and many other sacrifices. He gave away immense wealth in the form of donations, gifts, stipends, etc. However, the king had no son to take over the throne when the time came. He set the guidelines for ruling and handed over the kingdom to his ministers to go into the forest.
One day, the king was thirsty and went in search of water. He walked into Rishi Bhrigu’s ashram.
The previous night, the rishi’s son performed a yagna for the king so that he could have a son. A large pot was filled with water and charged with mantras. The king’s wife was supposed to drink this water to conceive a child. They planned to give it to the king and his wife the next day and went to sleep.
However, the thirsty king came across the pot of water and drank it to quench his thirst. Exhausted from walking around, he slept in the ashram to a side.
A while later, the rishis saw the empty pot and the sleeping king. They woke him up and asked about the water. He replied he drank it. The rishi (Bhrigu’s son) said that the king made a grave mistake and explained the water was filled with his tapasya powers. Since it was the king who drank it, he would have to deliver the baby instead of his wife. They asked the king to stay back and said he would give birth to a powerful and majestic son.
As predicted, Yuvanashva gave birth to a radiant son and lived to tell the tale. The birth of Mandhata was an interesting affair so, the gods, including Indra, arrived at the ashram to see the child and bless him. Though the king gave birth, he couldn’t feed the child. Indra said the child would suckle from him and placed his forefinger in the baby’s mouth. The newborn happily suckled milk from Indra’s finger. Thus, he was named Mandhata (translating to I will nurse him, the words said by Indra).
Drinking this milk, the child grew in size very quickly. He became a powerful king and learned in Vedas and Shastras. When he was old enough, Yuvanashva crowned his son the king. Mandhata went on to conquer all the kingdoms and became an emperor. At one time when a drought lasted for twelve years, he performed yagnas to end the drought and gave massive donations.
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The Pandavas and Rishi Lomasa visited Mount Vaidurya and went down to Narmada. Rishi Lomasa told them it was where Sharyati’s sacrifice took place, where the Ashwins drank soma with Indra. An angry Rishi Chyavana paralyzed Indra in his anger.
Yudhistira wanted to know the story.
Rishi Lomasa gave the details.
Rishi Chyavana was the son of Bhrigu and immensely popular for his austerities. He was in an intense tapasya that lasted several years. Seasons changed, nature changed, and ants built an anthill around him since he didn’t move from his position. Still, unbothered by it, the rishi continued his tapasya. Only his eyes were visible.
One day, King Sharyati arrived at the place to enjoy near the river. Four thousand women were with him (including his wives, etc.). His daughter, Sukanya, was also with them. She was a beautiful woman. Sukanya roamed in the forest with her friends. After a while, she separated from them and reached the anthill. Randomly she broke a branch with flowers and carried it with her. The rishi saw her through the anthill and called out. However, she didn’t hear him.
Stepping closer to the anthill, she saw two eyes stare at her. Curious, she poked in one of them with the branch. The rishi was angered and cursed the king’s soldiers to have loose bowel and bladder movements.
Noticing the sudden change in them, Sharyati knew something was wrong. He immediately asked if anyone knowingly or unknowingly disturbed Chyavana who was in his tapasya. The soldiers replied it wasn’t them. The king tried hard to find the person responsible. Finally, Sukanya said she poked at something in an anthill thinking it was an insect. The king went to the anthill and recognized it was the rishi. Sharyati bowed to him and pleaded forgiveness as her act was from ignorance and malice.
Chyavana said he would forgive the king if he gave his daughter’s hand in marriage. The king agreed. After the wedding, Sukanya lived with Rishi Chyavana in the forest and followed his lifestyle.
One day, Sukanya was bathing in the river when the Ashwins saw her. Mesmerized by her beauty, they asked who she was. When she replied, they asked why she was married to an older rishi. The Ashwins said she should leave him and go with them to lead a happy life by marrying one of them. She responded that she was devoted to her husband and didn’t want to leave him.
The Ashwins gave her an option. Since they were the physicians of the gods, they would make Chyavana youthful again. Then, She should choose a husband from among the three (the Ashwin twins and Chyavana). They even asked her to tell the rishi about this offer and bring him to them.
Sukanya did as told. Chyavana said they should do what the Ashwins asked and went with her to the river. The Ashwins asked Chyavana to take a dip in the water. They also did the same. When they rose, all three of them looked equally handsome and radiant. In a unified voice, the trio asked Sukanya to choose one of them as her husband. Sukanya used her intelligence to identify her husband and choose him.
Happy with the result, Chyavana said that the Ashwins had given him youth and beautiful looks as well as his wife again. In return, he gave them the right to drink soma in the presence of Indra. The Ashwins were also happy with the result and went back to heaven.
When King Sharyati heard of the events, he rushed to the ashram with his wife. They were all delighted with the developments. Rishi Chyavana said he would perform a yagna for the king. On the auspicious day, Chyavana got everything ready, built the altar, and performed the sacrifice. The gods arrived when it was time. Chyavana offered the cup of soma to Indra as per the custom. Then, he also offered two cups to the Ashwins. Indra objected saying they didn’t deserve it. Chyavana countered that they did deserve the soma and were worthy of accepting it along with Indra and other gods.
Indra protested but Chyavana was firm. Indra then threatened to hurl his vajra at the rishi if he offered the soma to the Ashwins. Chyavana simply smiled and handed over the cups to the Ashwins. When Indra grabbed the vajra to hurl it, the rishi caused his arm to freeze in paralysis. Once the offering was complete, the rishi created an asura named Mada (meaning arrogance and intoxication) using his powers. It was a horrible asura, large, terrifying, and ferocious. The asura rushed at Indra in rage. With his arm still paralyzed, Indra was sweating and worried. He didn’t know what to do. Deciding peace was his best choice, Indra agreed with Chyavana that the Ashwins were deserving of soma and would henceforth be allowed to drink it at yagnas. He asked the rishi to show mercy on him.
Rishi Chyavana was happy to do so. He divided Mada into parts and added it to drinks, women, gambling, and hunting, making them addictive to everyone. The god left after the yagna ended. King Sharyati went back to his kingdom. Chyavana and Sukanya stayed happily in the forest.
Rishi Lomasa and the Pandavas reached the sacred site of Parasurama’s ashram. The Bhrigus, the Angirases, the Vasishthas, and the Kashyapas lived here. They met Akritavarna, an ardent disciple of Parasurama, and inquired when they would meet the great man.
Akritavarna said Parasurama visited on the fourteenth and the eighth lunar days. Luckily, they had to wait only for a day. As they settled at the ashram, Yudhistira wanted to know how Parasurama vanquished the Kshatriyas and why he killed so many of them.
Akritavarna narrated the story in detail.
Once upon a time, there lived a great king named Gadhi, the ruler of Kanyakubja. He went to live in a forest where a beautiful daughter was born to him. Years later, when she was old enough, Bhargava Richika approached the king and asked to marry his daughter. The king said there was a custom in his lineage – the groom had to pay a bride price of a thousand white and swift horses. However, the horses would have a single black ear. The king said that the rishi could not be asked to give these but his daughter should marry a man like him. The rishi replied he would pay the bride price.
Richika went to Varuna and asked for a thousand white horses with one black ear each. Varuna did so and the place from where he got them became famous as a tirtha for the horses. As promised, King Gadhi got his daughter, Satyavati, married to Richika. After the wedding, Brighu and his wife went to visit his son and daughter-in-law. They were welcomed with respect and treated with care. Happy, Bhrigu offered a boon to his daughter-in-law. The beautiful woman requested a son for her mother and herself. The rishi agreed. He told her that she and her mother should bathe in a river and observe the ritual to conceive a son. Then, they must embrace different trees – asvattha tree for her mother and udumbara for his daughter-in-law.
However, when Satyavati and her mother embraced the trees, they got confused and mixed up the instructions. Bhrigu realized what happened and informed his daughter-in-law that she would have a Brahmin son who would live like a Kshatriya and her mother would have a Kshatriya son who would lead the life of a Brahmin.
Satyavati requested help from her father-in-law and said she didn’t want a son like that but wanted to make her grandson that way. Bhrigu agreed and said that would be so.
Soon, Jamadagni was born to Satyavati. He surpassed many great rishis with his immense knowledge. He married Renuka, the daughter of King Prasenjit. They had five sons, with Parasurama as the youngest. Parasurama despite being the youngest was superior to others and was the one who ended up as the grandson with a Kshatriya life.
One day, Renuka went to bathe in the river and saw the handsome King Chitraratha of Marttikavata and felt a sudden desire for him. However, she quickly returned to the ashram and was afraid that her husband might know of it. As guessed, Jamadagni knew of her slip from constancy and was angry at her. When his sons returned to the ashram, he ordered them to kill their mother. Rumanvat, Sushena, Vasu, and Vishvavasu – all the four older sons refused to do so. The rishi cursed them, which made his sons mad.
Parasurama arrived a while later. When his father gave him the same order, he grabbed an axe and beheaded her. Jamadagni told his son that he performed a tough task and was pleased with him. He offered a boon. Parasurama asked for his mother to be revived for the memory of this slaying to be wiped out from his mind. He also asked that he shouldn’t be affected by the sin of killing his mother and that his brothers should return to their natural state of mind. He even asked that he should be untouched in a battle, and have no rivals, as well as live a long life. Jamadagni, now that his anger was appeased, gave his son all the boons he asked for.
Years later, one day, the five sons had gone out as always. Jamadagni was at the ashram, immersed in tapasya. King Kartivirya arrived and was respectfully greeted by Renuka. However, he was high from success in a battle and instead of accepting the homage, he destroyed their ashram. He carried the sacrificial calf that kept crying. The cow was also crying for its baby.
When Parasurama returned, Jamadagni told him what happened. Furious, Parasurama rushed at Kartavirya and chopped off his thousand arms. He killed the king and reunited the calf with its mother.
The news reached Kartavirya’s sons who attacked the ashram when Parasurama wasn’t around. They killed Jamadagni who called out for his son to save him. By the time Parasurama returned with firewood, it was too late. His father was dead, and those responsible had left. He cried at the sight and blamed himself for his father’s death. Parasurama completed the funeral rites of his father and vowed to kill all the Kshatriyas. Fuelled by anger and grief, Parasurama killed all of Kartavirya’s sons. However, he didn’t stop this time. He continued to hunt and kill the Kshatriyas. Anyone who wielded arms was killed. He did this twenty-one times. This created five lakes of blood in Samantapanchaka. Here, Parasurama offered his ablutions to his ancestors.
Then, his grandfather, Richika appeared before Parasurama and asked him to stop. Parasurama agreed. He conducted a grand sacrifice, constructed a golden altar, and gifted it to Rishi Kashyapa. With his permission, the other Brahmins divided it into equal parts. That’s how it came to be known as Khandavayanas. Parasurama relocated to live on Mount Mahendra (where the Pandavas were, at his ashram, listening to this story).
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When the Pandavas and Rishi Lomasa reached the sacred region of River Kaushiki, the rishi said that Kashyapa’s ashram was located on the same banks. Rishi Kashyapa lived with his son Rishyashringa, a great ascetic who ended the drought in King Lomapada’s kingdom.
Rishi Lomasa narrated the story when Yudhistira asked for details.
Kashyapa was in a great lake when he saw Urvashi, the apsara bathing there. Seeing her, his semen slipped into the water. Unknown to anyone, a deer drank the water from the lake along with the semen and gave birth to a boy child. The rishi named the child Rishyashringa, as he had a single horn on his head. Kashyapa took care of his son alone and brought him up, teaching everything he knew. Rishyashringa never saw another human except his father. His heart and mind were innocent as he followed his father’s directions to become a great ascetic.
Meanwhile, King Lomapada of Anga faced a dire situation. Due to his greed for wealth, he insulted the rishis and lied to them. All Brahmins left the kingdom. After this, drought hit his kingdom. There was no rain for many years. His citizens were suffering. Lomapada went to his friend, King Dasharatha, for advice. Dasharatha told him to make amendments with the Brahmins. Otherwise, Indra wouldn’t shower rain on his kingdom. He advised Lomapada to invite Rishyashringa to his kingdom. If someone like Rishi Rishyashringa stepped on his land, it would end the drought.
After discussing the matter with his advisors, Lomapada called the courtesans in the kingdoms and gave them an offer to tempt and bring Rishyashringa to his kingdom. Everyone was afraid as they didn’t want to be cursed for their actions. One woman, however, agreed to do so. He gave her a lot of gold and wealth as a gift. The woman took a few others with her and went into the forest where Rishyashringa lived with his father.
She got an ashram built on a boat and decorated it to resemble a small island with plants, flowers, etc. She sent men to find out the routine of the rishis and made her plans. When Kashyapa left his son and went somewhere, the courtesan summoned her daughter and sent her to Rishyashringa.
The girl went to Rishyashringa and inquired about his welfare and studies. The rishi was stunned to see a third person, that too, someone who looked very different from his father and was extremely beautiful. He didn’t even know that she was not a man. Rishyashringa asked who ‘he’ was and where ‘his’ ashram was. She replied it was three yoganas away.
When he offered to wash her feet (and treat her how ascetics were treated), she refused. Instead, she shared the food she brought with her. She hugged him a few times and played with flowers and garlands. After a while, she said it was time for her to go back.
Rishyashringa didn’t know why but he felt sad at her departure and missed her. When his father returned, he told him everything about how a man who looked very different from them and described his physical appearance, Kashyapa understood. Rishyashringa said he wanted to visit the new rishi and know more about him. However, Kashyapa told his son that the visitor was not a rishi but a rakshasa in disguise and distracted ascetics from their true paths. He forbade his son to think about the visitor.
Kashyapa then searched for the woman for three days. However, he couldn’t find anyone in the vicinity. The next time Kashyapa went to gather fruit, the courtesan returned. Rishyashringa was delighted to meet her again and told her that they should go to her ashram before his father returned. They went to the ashram on the boat and it set sail to Anga.
In the meantime, the king had a beautiful hermitage on the riverbank. When Rishyashringa stepped on the land and walked into the ashram, it rained in the kingdom. Then, the king got his beautiful and pious daughter, Shanta, married to Rishyashringa who was happy to stay in the new location and meet more people.
The king knew Kashyapa would be furious when he found out. He didn’t want the rishi to curse him. So, Lomapada got new villages developed along the path he knew Kashyapa would take. He brought new cattle and built houses for caretakers. He instructed everyone to say that the wealth belonged to Rishyashringa.
As predicted, an angry Kashyapa stalked to Champa, the capital of Anga, intent on cursing the king and burning the place down. However, he encountered beautiful villages and people on his way. Whenever he asked, they told him they worked for his son and all the wealth belonged to him. This happened until Kashyapa reached Champa. By then, his anger had subsided. He saw his son and daughter-in-law shining bright the lightning.
Kashyapa told his son that he should return to the forest after doing what his father-in-law wanted and having a son with his wife. Rishyashringa agreed. Shanta followed him to the forest and lived in the sacred ashram beside the River Kaushiki.
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When the Pandavas reached Mount Hemakuta on their pilgrimage, they saw many inexplicable sights. Rishi Lomasa narrated the story of an ascetic named Rishaba who lived on a mountain that became known as Mount Rishaba.
Rishaba was an old rishi who liked to live alone and was prone to anger. He instructed the mountain to shower stones on anyone who spoke a word in that region. He summoned the wind and ordered that a single word shouldn’t be uttered. Anyone who spoke would be blocked by the clouds, and the path would become inaccessible.
Similarly, back in the past when the gods came to stay at River Nanda, humans began to queue up to meet them. However, Indra wasn’t interested. He caused the mountains to grow so high that it blocked the path and prevented human entry. Since then, people couldn’t even look at the mountain, let alone climb it.
Nevertheless, ascetics and those who performed the necessary austerities were granted permission. Rishi Lomasa advised the Pandavas to control their speech and respect the land. If they adhered to the rules at Mount Rishaba, they could proceed without difficulty.
After all, many great rishis and gods have performed yagnas, and the signs were still visible. The Pandavas followed the rishi’s advice. They took a bath in the river and offered their prayers before moving on to the next pilgrim site.
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King Sagara’s sons dug up the ocean and got killed by Rishi Kapila for insulting him. The king’s grandson, Anshuman’s son, Dilipa learned about the destruction caused by his elders and wanted to make amendments. However, he couldn’t achieve the goal during his lifetime and handed over the responsibility to his son, Bhagiratha. He told his son to bring the celestial River Ganga to the earth to fill up the empty ocean.
Bhagiratha was a great emperor and a wonderful archer. When he heard about his family’s past, he was saddened and wanted to continue his father’s incomplete task. Handing over the kingdom to his advisors, he went to the Himalayas to perform strict tapasya. He survived the harsh conditions and was immersed in worshipping Ganga. After many years, Ganga visited Bhagiratha to grant him a boon.
The king asked her to descend to the earth so that the purity of her waters could wash the sins of his great-grandfathers and allow them to travel to heaven. Ganga replied that she had no objection to descending to the earth but pointed out that it would cause a lot of impact and destruction. Ganga said that no one in the three worlds except Shiva could handle her force and sustain it. He could hold her on his head (in his hair) and let only a stream of her waters trickle down to the earth.
Bhagiratha thanked Ganga and went to Mount Kailasa to pray to Shiva. After performing several austerities, Shiva graced the king with his presence and offered a boon. When asked, Shiva agreed to carry Ganga on his head.
Shiva went to the Himalayas with his followers and stood. He told Bhagiratha to ask Ganga to begin her downward journey. The king prayed to Ganga. She responded by releasing the gushing waters from heaven. The rishis, nagas, gandharvas, yakshas, and other gods also arrived to witness the spectacle. They saw the huge mass of water with fish, crocodiles, and whirlpools rushing towards the earth. However, Shiva stood in between, catching all of it in his dreadlocks and forming a well to hold them. He released a strong stream of Ganga to flow to the earth.
Ganga asked Bhagiratha to show her the way. She followed as the king walked ahead and took her where his ancestors dug up the ocean. She split into three streams as the journey progressed. The king considered the goddess his daughter as she went with him to the vast empty hole and filled it. In this process, she also washed the ashes of his great-grandfathers and cleansed their sins. Finally, they were freed and could go to heaven.
Ganga flowed on the earth and became one of the most sacred rivers in the country.
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Rishi Agastya drank the ocean water, and the gods killed the Kelakeyas. The massive empty space continued to be a sore sight but there wasn’t anything the gods could do. Brahma Deva informed the gods that they had to wait a few generations for the dried-up ocean to refill. King Sagara’s sons would play a role but it was a long wait!
A few years later, King Sagara of the Ikshvaku dynasty was on the throne. He conquered many lands and ruled a large region. However, the king had no heir. Despite having two wives, the king couldn’t have a son. The trio performed many yagnas and sacrifices but there was no result.
They went to perform tapasya on Mount Kailasa, hoping to please Shiva and get a boon from him. As expected, their devotion pleased Shiva, who appeared to grant them a boon. When the king asked for a son, Shiva granted him sixty thousand sons to one wife and one son to another. While the sixty thousand sons would perish, the only son of another wife would give him an heir to take the throne.
Sagara’s wives, Vaidarbhi and Shaibya soon conceived. While Vaidarbhi gave birth to a gourd, Shaibya gave birth to a handsome child, Asamanja. The king asked the servants to throw away the gourd but the voice from heaven warned him not to do that. The king was ordered to extract the seeds from the vegetable and soak them in ghee-filled pots (this is similar to how Vyasa helped Gandhari give birth to a hundred Kauravas and one daughter). In due time, the king noticed that he had sixty thousand sons from the seeds.
While King Sagara’s sons were powerful, they were also cruel. They traveled through different regions and entered the other worlds, creating trouble wherever they went. Once again, the gods went to Brahma Deva for help. He asked them to be patient as their deeds would result in their deaths.
More time passed. King Sagara planned the Ashwamedha yagna. His evil sons followed the horse around the world. However, the horse disappeared when they reached the empty ocean. When they informed him about the missing horse, the angry king told his sons not to return unless they found the sacrificial horse.
Not knowing what to do, the sixty thousand sons began to dig up the empty ocean. This hurt Varuna a lot as his sides were being ripped apart by shovels and spades. The creatures living there cried in anguish as the princes killed them. The princes continued to dig in the northeast direction and reached the other end. Finally, at last, they saw the sacrificial horse in Rishi Kapila’s ashram.
Eager to grab the horse, the evil princes disrespected the rishi. Angered by their attitude, Kalipa opened his eyes to glare at them. The power from his eyes burned the sixty thousand princes and turned them into ashes.
When King Sagara heard of this from Narada, he remembered the words of Shiva. He calmly sent his good-hearted grandson, Anshuman, and asked him to bring the horse. Asamanja, his son was as cruel as the others, which made the king exile him. However, the king kept his grandson with him. Anshuman went to Rishi Kapila’s ashram and paid his respects to the great rishi. Pleased, the rishi told him to ask for a boon.
Anshuman asked him permission to take the horse back and also for water to purify his fathers. Rishi Kapila blessed him and said that Anshuman’s grandson would bring the scared waters down to the earth to purify the souls of King Sagara’s sons.
Anshuman thanked the rishi and respectfully took the horse to his grandfather. The Ashwamedha yagna was complete. He ruled for a few more years and handed the kingdom to Anshuman.
Anshuman ruled for a long time. His son, Dilipa was also a pious and dharma-following king. Dilipa performed a tapasya to bring Ganga to the earth but wasn’t successful. He handed over the responsibility to Baghiratha.
https://draupadiparashakti.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/draupadi-blanc.png00Srivalli Rekha Mantralahttps://draupadiparashakti.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/draupadi-blanc.pngSrivalli Rekha Mantrala2025-03-06 07:46:372025-03-07 08:23:33King Sagara’s Sons Dig an Ocean – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
In The Destruction Caused by Kalakeyas, we read about gods approaching Rishi Agastya to dry up the ocean as the danavas were hiding in it. That was how he drank an entire ocean.
Rishi Agastya accepted their request and said he would drink the ocean water and expose the Kelayas as it would save the world from more destruction. The rishi walked to the ocean shore with gods, gandharvas, yakshas, nagas, etc. They all wanted to see the miracle occur.
As he started to drink the ocean water, the gods chanted his praises and showered flowers on him. Soon, the ocean was dry. A massive empty hole stood in its place. The gods were ready with their weapons and quickly killed the Kelayas who had been causing so much trouble. A few danavas escaped and ran off to hide in dark corners and gaps between hills, far away from the site.
Once no danava could be found, the gods asked Agastya to release the water back into the hole. However, the rishi replied that the water had already been digested by his body. There was no chance of giving it back. Thanked him, the gods, along with Narayana, went to Brahma Deva. They had to find a way to refill the ocean.
Brahma replied that it would be done but not anytime soon. He said they had to wait for many generations until King Bhagiratha would be born in the Ikshvaku lineage and his relatives would play various roles in this process.
The Vindhya Mountain Range is located in the west-central part of modern India covering portions of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and the southern parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. There’s a story about why the mountain range has a partition in between.
Mount Meru, located in the Himalayas, had always been a sacred site for humans and gods. Its location was such that the sun’s daily path (from east to west) seemed like he was circumambulating Meru. Meru was also called the golden king of mountains (it shone like gold when sunrays fell on it).
The Vindhya Mountain noticed this and was angry. He demanded the sun to explain why Mount Meru got such respect. The sun replied that he didn’t plan it. The mountain’s location made it seem that way. However, Vindhya wasn’t pleased with the answer. He swelled in size and grew bigger and bigger until it could overshadow everything else.
This meant, Vindhya blocked the sun’s path and prevented him from traveling across the sky. The moon and the stars also faced the same issue. They could no longer move freely. This led to an imbalance in day and night, seasons, months, and years. Nature’s cycle went out of the loop. Humans suffered the consequences of these changes. The rishis were also troubled as they couldn’t perform their yagnas correctly.
Something had to be done. The rishis and the gods tried to convince Vindhya but he wouldn’t listen. They went to Rishi Agastya and asked him to restore the balance on the earth.
Agastya went to Vindhya with his wife and asked him to create a path to travel southward. He said they had some work on the other side and the mountain could close the gap once they returned. Vindhya agreed. He split into two and opened a path for the rishi and wife to walk through.
Agastya went through the path and never returned. The Vindhya Mountain had to keep the route open as per their agreement. This gap cleared the space for the planets and stars to resume their movements across the sky. Soon, everything got back into a proper cycle.
Indra used the weapon named vajra, made of Dadicha’s Bones, and killed Vritra, the powerful asura. However, the Kalakeyas had to be dealt with.
Indra was still in a daze and afraid of Vritra. He couldn’t believe that he released the vajra or killed the daityas and ran to hide in a lake. While the thirty other gods killed the remaining Kalakeyas, some of them ran and hid in the depths of an ocean. Down there, they continued to plot methods to destroy the three worlds and take control of the universe. They decided that wiping out rishis and Brahmins who performed austerities would make it easier to ruin the three worlds. Without the knowledge of dharma, it would be an easy task to control the regions.
The Kalakeyas went out at night to attack various ashrams and kill the rishis. They targeted Vasishtha’s ashram, Chyavana’s hermitage, Bharadvaja’s ashram, and so on. The danavas gobbled up hundreds of fasting Brahmins and ascetics immersed in tapasya.
During the day, they would hide in the ocean and sleep. When darkness took over, the Kelayas would go on a rampage and devour the ascetics. As this continued, many people stopped studying Shastras and performing yagnas out of fear. They left their homelands to flee in different directions. Some angry ones tried to find the danavas but couldn’t.
This extensive destruction caused much anguish in the gods. They went to Narayana to request for his help. Narayana suggested they empty the ocean to force the Kelayas out of hiding. He said only Rishi Agastya had the capacity to empty an ocean (he was the son of Varuna, the god of water).
The gods bowed to Agastya in respect and asked him to help them again. He had previously cursed Nahusha and dethroned him as the king of heaven. He had also controlled the Vindhya Mountain when it swelledand disrupted nature’s cycle.
The Test of King Usinara – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
The Pandavas were on a pilgrimage and reached the region of Kashmira. There, Rishi Lomasa pointed out various sacred sites like Rukmini’s ashram, the place where Nahusha, Agni, and Kasyapa conversed, the area where Rishi Vasishtha lived with Arundhati, and the Bhrigutunga Mountain with Rivers Jala and Upajala. It was here that King Usinara performed a sacrifice that made him surpass Vasava (Indra).
Yudhistira wanted to know about the yagna. Rishi Lomasa shared the story.
Once upon a time, King Usinara was performing a majestic yagna sacrifice to please the gods. He was known for being a righteous ruler who always followed dharma. Indra and Agni decided to test the king to determine if he was indeed as good as everyone claimed.
Indra became a hawk, and Agni turned into a dove. Agni flew into the site and rushed straight at Usinara to hide in his lap. The dove sought help from the king and requested for the protection of its life. Just then the hawk flew towards them. Usinara shielded the dove in his arms to prevent the hawk from harming it.
The hawk said to the king that he had dharma in his soul, so he shouldn’t stop the hawk from consuming its food (dove). It said by protecting the dove, the king was not following dharma.
Usinara replied that protecting whoever sought help was his dharma and he was doing exactly that. The dove went to help for safety, and he would provide the bird the same no matter what. When the hawk asked about its own hunger, the king said he would offer whatever food (except the dove), the hawk wanted. He listed various meats like ox, boar, deer, buffalo, etc.
The hawk said it didn’t want any other meat since the dove was marked as its meal. Becoming the hawk’s food was the dove’s destiny and the king shouldn’t interfere with it. However, Usinara didn’t agree and said he wouldn’t give up the dove but the hawk could ask for anything it wanted.
The hawk said that if the king had so much affection for the dove, he should cut a portion of his body as substitute food. Usinara agreed immediately and ordered a scale to be placed. He cut a hefty piece of his flesh and weighed it only to realize it wasn’t enough. He continued to add more such pieces but the dove was heavier. Finally, Usinara stepped onto the scale and asked the hawk to devour him completely.
The hawk and the dove transformed into Indra and Agni. They praised the king for his selflessness and determination to protect those who sought refuge from him. Healing his wounds, Indra sat through the yagna and accepted the offerings at the end. Indra and Agni blessed King Usinara that as long as men talked in this world, the story of his deed would be eternal.
The Story of King Somaka – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
After listening to the story of King Mandhata, Yudhistira asked Rishi Lomasa to explain why King Somaka went to naraka with his guru.
The rishi obliged.
Once upon a time, there was a king named Somaka. He had a hundred wives and treated them equally. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have even a single son. After many years when the king and his wives were old, one of his wives gave birth to a son named Jantu. Being an only child among many women, they pampered the baby and wouldn’t let him go. They were distraught at his slightest discomfort and cried if he cried.
Over the next few weeks, the king was annoyed by this. He could hear their cries in the sabha and had to go and console the child as well as the women. Somaka was so annoyed that he said it was better to not have any children than to have a single son who was pampered to this extent. He said a single son was a cause of misery (nor did he have any hope that such a baby would grow up to be a formidable ruler).
The king told his priests that they were now old and didn’t have much hope of having more children. He asked if there was any ceremony or yagna that would give him a hundred sons. Somaka said he would perform it even if it was difficult.
One of the priests said that there was indeed a way. The king said he didn’t mind if it was the right method or not. As long as he would get a hundred sons, he was okay with the process. The priest explained that they would have to sacrifice Jantu for this. Jantu would be reborn to the same woman (with a golden identification mark) along with another ninety-nine sons.
King Somaka agreed and asked the priest to make the arrangements. The king took the baby boy to the yagna and handed him over to the priest. However, his wives tugged the boy back and wailed. The priest managed to grab Jantu and completed the yagna. The women were distressed at the sight and fell unconscious. However, they involuntarily inhaled the smoke from the yagna.
Soon, all of them gave birth to a son each. Jantu was reborn to his mother and had a golden birthmark on his left side. Seeing this, the women loved Jantu more than their sons and pampered him again. Nevertheless, this time, Jantu grew up to be a man of good qualities and a capable ruler.
Many years passed. The priest died of old age. Later, King Somaka also passed away. The king was taken to hell where he saw his priest being cooked in a pot. He was outraged and asked them to free his guru. He asked Yama Dharmaraja why a noble Brahmin was in hell. The god of dharma replied that his priest performed an adharmic yagna (killing a child to beget more children) and was being cleansed of his sins. Somaka asked Yama to let his guru go to heaven and that he would face the punishment instead since the yagna was for him.
Yama Dharmaraja replied that every person had to face the consequences of their actions. Somaka said he would also stay in hell with his priest. He went through the same punishments as his guru and when they were cleansed, they were sent to heaven.
The Birth of Mandhata – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
When Rishi Lomasda and the Pandavas reached the Yamuna River, the rishi told them about the importance of the sacred site and how King Mandhata performed many sacrifices there. Yudhistira asked for more information, so the rishi narrated the story about the birth of Mandhata.
King Yuvanashva belonged to the Ikshvaku lineage and was the king of the world. He performed a thousand Ashwamedha yangas and many other sacrifices. He gave away immense wealth in the form of donations, gifts, stipends, etc. However, the king had no son to take over the throne when the time came. He set the guidelines for ruling and handed over the kingdom to his ministers to go into the forest.
One day, the king was thirsty and went in search of water. He walked into Rishi Bhrigu’s ashram.
The previous night, the rishi’s son performed a yagna for the king so that he could have a son. A large pot was filled with water and charged with mantras. The king’s wife was supposed to drink this water to conceive a child. They planned to give it to the king and his wife the next day and went to sleep.
However, the thirsty king came across the pot of water and drank it to quench his thirst. Exhausted from walking around, he slept in the ashram to a side.
A while later, the rishis saw the empty pot and the sleeping king. They woke him up and asked about the water. He replied he drank it. The rishi (Bhrigu’s son) said that the king made a grave mistake and explained the water was filled with his tapasya powers. Since it was the king who drank it, he would have to deliver the baby instead of his wife. They asked the king to stay back and said he would give birth to a powerful and majestic son.
As predicted, Yuvanashva gave birth to a radiant son and lived to tell the tale. The birth of Mandhata was an interesting affair so, the gods, including Indra, arrived at the ashram to see the child and bless him. Though the king gave birth, he couldn’t feed the child. Indra said the child would suckle from him and placed his forefinger in the baby’s mouth. The newborn happily suckled milk from Indra’s finger. Thus, he was named Mandhata (translating to I will nurse him, the words said by Indra).
Drinking this milk, the child grew in size very quickly. He became a powerful king and learned in Vedas and Shastras. When he was old enough, Yuvanashva crowned his son the king. Mandhata went on to conquer all the kingdoms and became an emperor. At one time when a drought lasted for twelve years, he performed yagnas to end the drought and gave massive donations.
Rishi Chyavana Gets Angry on Indra – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
The Pandavas and Rishi Lomasa visited Mount Vaidurya and went down to Narmada. Rishi Lomasa told them it was where Sharyati’s sacrifice took place, where the Ashwins drank soma with Indra. An angry Rishi Chyavana paralyzed Indra in his anger.
Yudhistira wanted to know the story.
Rishi Lomasa gave the details.
Rishi Chyavana was the son of Bhrigu and immensely popular for his austerities. He was in an intense tapasya that lasted several years. Seasons changed, nature changed, and ants built an anthill around him since he didn’t move from his position. Still, unbothered by it, the rishi continued his tapasya. Only his eyes were visible.
One day, King Sharyati arrived at the place to enjoy near the river. Four thousand women were with him (including his wives, etc.). His daughter, Sukanya, was also with them. She was a beautiful woman. Sukanya roamed in the forest with her friends. After a while, she separated from them and reached the anthill. Randomly she broke a branch with flowers and carried it with her. The rishi saw her through the anthill and called out. However, she didn’t hear him.
Stepping closer to the anthill, she saw two eyes stare at her. Curious, she poked in one of them with the branch. The rishi was angered and cursed the king’s soldiers to have loose bowel and bladder movements.
Noticing the sudden change in them, Sharyati knew something was wrong. He immediately asked if anyone knowingly or unknowingly disturbed Chyavana who was in his tapasya. The soldiers replied it wasn’t them. The king tried hard to find the person responsible. Finally, Sukanya said she poked at something in an anthill thinking it was an insect. The king went to the anthill and recognized it was the rishi. Sharyati bowed to him and pleaded forgiveness as her act was from ignorance and malice.
Chyavana said he would forgive the king if he gave his daughter’s hand in marriage. The king agreed. After the wedding, Sukanya lived with Rishi Chyavana in the forest and followed his lifestyle.
One day, Sukanya was bathing in the river when the Ashwins saw her. Mesmerized by her beauty, they asked who she was. When she replied, they asked why she was married to an older rishi. The Ashwins said she should leave him and go with them to lead a happy life by marrying one of them. She responded that she was devoted to her husband and didn’t want to leave him.
The Ashwins gave her an option. Since they were the physicians of the gods, they would make Chyavana youthful again. Then, She should choose a husband from among the three (the Ashwin twins and Chyavana). They even asked her to tell the rishi about this offer and bring him to them.
Sukanya did as told. Chyavana said they should do what the Ashwins asked and went with her to the river. The Ashwins asked Chyavana to take a dip in the water. They also did the same. When they rose, all three of them looked equally handsome and radiant. In a unified voice, the trio asked Sukanya to choose one of them as her husband. Sukanya used her intelligence to identify her husband and choose him.
Happy with the result, Chyavana said that the Ashwins had given him youth and beautiful looks as well as his wife again. In return, he gave them the right to drink soma in the presence of Indra. The Ashwins were also happy with the result and went back to heaven.
When King Sharyati heard of the events, he rushed to the ashram with his wife. They were all delighted with the developments. Rishi Chyavana said he would perform a yagna for the king. On the auspicious day, Chyavana got everything ready, built the altar, and performed the sacrifice. The gods arrived when it was time. Chyavana offered the cup of soma to Indra as per the custom. Then, he also offered two cups to the Ashwins. Indra objected saying they didn’t deserve it. Chyavana countered that they did deserve the soma and were worthy of accepting it along with Indra and other gods.
Indra protested but Chyavana was firm. Indra then threatened to hurl his vajra at the rishi if he offered the soma to the Ashwins. Chyavana simply smiled and handed over the cups to the Ashwins. When Indra grabbed the vajra to hurl it, the rishi caused his arm to freeze in paralysis. Once the offering was complete, the rishi created an asura named Mada (meaning arrogance and intoxication) using his powers. It was a horrible asura, large, terrifying, and ferocious. The asura rushed at Indra in rage. With his arm still paralyzed, Indra was sweating and worried. He didn’t know what to do. Deciding peace was his best choice, Indra agreed with Chyavana that the Ashwins were deserving of soma and would henceforth be allowed to drink it at yagnas. He asked the rishi to show mercy on him.
Rishi Chyavana was happy to do so. He divided Mada into parts and added it to drinks, women, gambling, and hunting, making them addictive to everyone. The god left after the yagna ended. King Sharyati went back to his kingdom. Chyavana and Sukanya stayed happily in the forest.
Parasurama and the Battle with Kshatriyas – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
Rishi Lomasa and the Pandavas reached the sacred site of Parasurama’s ashram. The Bhrigus, the Angirases, the Vasishthas, and the Kashyapas lived here. They met Akritavarna, an ardent disciple of Parasurama, and inquired when they would meet the great man.
Akritavarna said Parasurama visited on the fourteenth and the eighth lunar days. Luckily, they had to wait only for a day. As they settled at the ashram, Yudhistira wanted to know how Parasurama vanquished the Kshatriyas and why he killed so many of them.
Akritavarna narrated the story in detail.
Once upon a time, there lived a great king named Gadhi, the ruler of Kanyakubja. He went to live in a forest where a beautiful daughter was born to him. Years later, when she was old enough, Bhargava Richika approached the king and asked to marry his daughter. The king said there was a custom in his lineage – the groom had to pay a bride price of a thousand white and swift horses. However, the horses would have a single black ear. The king said that the rishi could not be asked to give these but his daughter should marry a man like him. The rishi replied he would pay the bride price.
Richika went to Varuna and asked for a thousand white horses with one black ear each. Varuna did so and the place from where he got them became famous as a tirtha for the horses. As promised, King Gadhi got his daughter, Satyavati, married to Richika. After the wedding, Brighu and his wife went to visit his son and daughter-in-law. They were welcomed with respect and treated with care. Happy, Bhrigu offered a boon to his daughter-in-law. The beautiful woman requested a son for her mother and herself. The rishi agreed. He told her that she and her mother should bathe in a river and observe the ritual to conceive a son. Then, they must embrace different trees – asvattha tree for her mother and udumbara for his daughter-in-law.
However, when Satyavati and her mother embraced the trees, they got confused and mixed up the instructions. Bhrigu realized what happened and informed his daughter-in-law that she would have a Brahmin son who would live like a Kshatriya and her mother would have a Kshatriya son who would lead the life of a Brahmin.
Satyavati requested help from her father-in-law and said she didn’t want a son like that but wanted to make her grandson that way. Bhrigu agreed and said that would be so.
Soon, Jamadagni was born to Satyavati. He surpassed many great rishis with his immense knowledge. He married Renuka, the daughter of King Prasenjit. They had five sons, with Parasurama as the youngest. Parasurama despite being the youngest was superior to others and was the one who ended up as the grandson with a Kshatriya life.
One day, Renuka went to bathe in the river and saw the handsome King Chitraratha of Marttikavata and felt a sudden desire for him. However, she quickly returned to the ashram and was afraid that her husband might know of it. As guessed, Jamadagni knew of her slip from constancy and was angry at her. When his sons returned to the ashram, he ordered them to kill their mother. Rumanvat, Sushena, Vasu, and Vishvavasu – all the four older sons refused to do so. The rishi cursed them, which made his sons mad.
Parasurama arrived a while later. When his father gave him the same order, he grabbed an axe and beheaded her. Jamadagni told his son that he performed a tough task and was pleased with him. He offered a boon. Parasurama asked for his mother to be revived for the memory of this slaying to be wiped out from his mind. He also asked that he shouldn’t be affected by the sin of killing his mother and that his brothers should return to their natural state of mind. He even asked that he should be untouched in a battle, and have no rivals, as well as live a long life. Jamadagni, now that his anger was appeased, gave his son all the boons he asked for.
Years later, one day, the five sons had gone out as always. Jamadagni was at the ashram, immersed in tapasya. King Kartivirya arrived and was respectfully greeted by Renuka. However, he was high from success in a battle and instead of accepting the homage, he destroyed their ashram. He carried the sacrificial calf that kept crying. The cow was also crying for its baby.
When Parasurama returned, Jamadagni told him what happened. Furious, Parasurama rushed at Kartavirya and chopped off his thousand arms. He killed the king and reunited the calf with its mother.
The news reached Kartavirya’s sons who attacked the ashram when Parasurama wasn’t around. They killed Jamadagni who called out for his son to save him. By the time Parasurama returned with firewood, it was too late. His father was dead, and those responsible had left. He cried at the sight and blamed himself for his father’s death. Parasurama completed the funeral rites of his father and vowed to kill all the Kshatriyas. Fuelled by anger and grief, Parasurama killed all of Kartavirya’s sons. However, he didn’t stop this time. He continued to hunt and kill the Kshatriyas. Anyone who wielded arms was killed. He did this twenty-one times. This created five lakes of blood in Samantapanchaka. Here, Parasurama offered his ablutions to his ancestors.
Then, his grandfather, Richika appeared before Parasurama and asked him to stop. Parasurama agreed. He conducted a grand sacrifice, constructed a golden altar, and gifted it to Rishi Kashyapa. With his permission, the other Brahmins divided it into equal parts. That’s how it came to be known as Khandavayanas. Parasurama relocated to live on Mount Mahendra (where the Pandavas were, at his ashram, listening to this story).
The Story of Kashyapa’s Son, Rishyashringa – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
When the Pandavas and Rishi Lomasa reached the sacred region of River Kaushiki, the rishi said that Kashyapa’s ashram was located on the same banks. Rishi Kashyapa lived with his son Rishyashringa, a great ascetic who ended the drought in King Lomapada’s kingdom.
Rishi Lomasa narrated the story when Yudhistira asked for details.
Kashyapa was in a great lake when he saw Urvashi, the apsara bathing there. Seeing her, his semen slipped into the water. Unknown to anyone, a deer drank the water from the lake along with the semen and gave birth to a boy child. The rishi named the child Rishyashringa, as he had a single horn on his head. Kashyapa took care of his son alone and brought him up, teaching everything he knew. Rishyashringa never saw another human except his father. His heart and mind were innocent as he followed his father’s directions to become a great ascetic.
Meanwhile, King Lomapada of Anga faced a dire situation. Due to his greed for wealth, he insulted the rishis and lied to them. All Brahmins left the kingdom. After this, drought hit his kingdom. There was no rain for many years. His citizens were suffering. Lomapada went to his friend, King Dasharatha, for advice. Dasharatha told him to make amendments with the Brahmins. Otherwise, Indra wouldn’t shower rain on his kingdom. He advised Lomapada to invite Rishyashringa to his kingdom. If someone like Rishi Rishyashringa stepped on his land, it would end the drought.
After discussing the matter with his advisors, Lomapada called the courtesans in the kingdoms and gave them an offer to tempt and bring Rishyashringa to his kingdom. Everyone was afraid as they didn’t want to be cursed for their actions. One woman, however, agreed to do so. He gave her a lot of gold and wealth as a gift. The woman took a few others with her and went into the forest where Rishyashringa lived with his father.
She got an ashram built on a boat and decorated it to resemble a small island with plants, flowers, etc. She sent men to find out the routine of the rishis and made her plans. When Kashyapa left his son and went somewhere, the courtesan summoned her daughter and sent her to Rishyashringa.
The girl went to Rishyashringa and inquired about his welfare and studies. The rishi was stunned to see a third person, that too, someone who looked very different from his father and was extremely beautiful. He didn’t even know that she was not a man. Rishyashringa asked who ‘he’ was and where ‘his’ ashram was. She replied it was three yoganas away.
When he offered to wash her feet (and treat her how ascetics were treated), she refused. Instead, she shared the food she brought with her. She hugged him a few times and played with flowers and garlands. After a while, she said it was time for her to go back.
Rishyashringa didn’t know why but he felt sad at her departure and missed her. When his father returned, he told him everything about how a man who looked very different from them and described his physical appearance, Kashyapa understood. Rishyashringa said he wanted to visit the new rishi and know more about him. However, Kashyapa told his son that the visitor was not a rishi but a rakshasa in disguise and distracted ascetics from their true paths. He forbade his son to think about the visitor.
Kashyapa then searched for the woman for three days. However, he couldn’t find anyone in the vicinity. The next time Kashyapa went to gather fruit, the courtesan returned. Rishyashringa was delighted to meet her again and told her that they should go to her ashram before his father returned. They went to the ashram on the boat and it set sail to Anga.
In the meantime, the king had a beautiful hermitage on the riverbank. When Rishyashringa stepped on the land and walked into the ashram, it rained in the kingdom. Then, the king got his beautiful and pious daughter, Shanta, married to Rishyashringa who was happy to stay in the new location and meet more people.
The king knew Kashyapa would be furious when he found out. He didn’t want the rishi to curse him. So, Lomapada got new villages developed along the path he knew Kashyapa would take. He brought new cattle and built houses for caretakers. He instructed everyone to say that the wealth belonged to Rishyashringa.
As predicted, an angry Kashyapa stalked to Champa, the capital of Anga, intent on cursing the king and burning the place down. However, he encountered beautiful villages and people on his way. Whenever he asked, they told him they worked for his son and all the wealth belonged to him. This happened until Kashyapa reached Champa. By then, his anger had subsided. He saw his son and daughter-in-law shining bright the lightning.
Kashyapa told his son that he should return to the forest after doing what his father-in-law wanted and having a son with his wife. Rishyashringa agreed. Shanta followed him to the forest and lived in the sacred ashram beside the River Kaushiki.
The Story of Mount Rishaba – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
When the Pandavas reached Mount Hemakuta on their pilgrimage, they saw many inexplicable sights. Rishi Lomasa narrated the story of an ascetic named Rishaba who lived on a mountain that became known as Mount Rishaba.
Rishaba was an old rishi who liked to live alone and was prone to anger. He instructed the mountain to shower stones on anyone who spoke a word in that region. He summoned the wind and ordered that a single word shouldn’t be uttered. Anyone who spoke would be blocked by the clouds, and the path would become inaccessible.
Similarly, back in the past when the gods came to stay at River Nanda, humans began to queue up to meet them. However, Indra wasn’t interested. He caused the mountains to grow so high that it blocked the path and prevented human entry. Since then, people couldn’t even look at the mountain, let alone climb it.
Nevertheless, ascetics and those who performed the necessary austerities were granted permission. Rishi Lomasa advised the Pandavas to control their speech and respect the land. If they adhered to the rules at Mount Rishaba, they could proceed without difficulty.
After all, many great rishis and gods have performed yagnas, and the signs were still visible. The Pandavas followed the rishi’s advice. They took a bath in the river and offered their prayers before moving on to the next pilgrim site.
King Bhagiratha Brought Ganga to Earth – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
King Sagara’s sons dug up the ocean and got killed by Rishi Kapila for insulting him. The king’s grandson, Anshuman’s son, Dilipa learned about the destruction caused by his elders and wanted to make amendments. However, he couldn’t achieve the goal during his lifetime and handed over the responsibility to his son, Bhagiratha. He told his son to bring the celestial River Ganga to the earth to fill up the empty ocean.
Bhagiratha was a great emperor and a wonderful archer. When he heard about his family’s past, he was saddened and wanted to continue his father’s incomplete task. Handing over the kingdom to his advisors, he went to the Himalayas to perform strict tapasya. He survived the harsh conditions and was immersed in worshipping Ganga. After many years, Ganga visited Bhagiratha to grant him a boon.
The king asked her to descend to the earth so that the purity of her waters could wash the sins of his great-grandfathers and allow them to travel to heaven. Ganga replied that she had no objection to descending to the earth but pointed out that it would cause a lot of impact and destruction. Ganga said that no one in the three worlds except Shiva could handle her force and sustain it. He could hold her on his head (in his hair) and let only a stream of her waters trickle down to the earth.
Bhagiratha thanked Ganga and went to Mount Kailasa to pray to Shiva. After performing several austerities, Shiva graced the king with his presence and offered a boon. When asked, Shiva agreed to carry Ganga on his head.
Shiva went to the Himalayas with his followers and stood. He told Bhagiratha to ask Ganga to begin her downward journey. The king prayed to Ganga. She responded by releasing the gushing waters from heaven. The rishis, nagas, gandharvas, yakshas, and other gods also arrived to witness the spectacle. They saw the huge mass of water with fish, crocodiles, and whirlpools rushing towards the earth. However, Shiva stood in between, catching all of it in his dreadlocks and forming a well to hold them. He released a strong stream of Ganga to flow to the earth.
Ganga asked Bhagiratha to show her the way. She followed as the king walked ahead and took her where his ancestors dug up the ocean. She split into three streams as the journey progressed. The king considered the goddess his daughter as she went with him to the vast empty hole and filled it. In this process, she also washed the ashes of his great-grandfathers and cleansed their sins. Finally, they were freed and could go to heaven.
Ganga flowed on the earth and became one of the most sacred rivers in the country.
King Sagara’s Sons Dig an Ocean – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
Rishi Agastya drank the ocean water, and the gods killed the Kelakeyas. The massive empty space continued to be a sore sight but there wasn’t anything the gods could do. Brahma Deva informed the gods that they had to wait a few generations for the dried-up ocean to refill. King Sagara’s sons would play a role but it was a long wait!
A few years later, King Sagara of the Ikshvaku dynasty was on the throne. He conquered many lands and ruled a large region. However, the king had no heir. Despite having two wives, the king couldn’t have a son. The trio performed many yagnas and sacrifices but there was no result.
They went to perform tapasya on Mount Kailasa, hoping to please Shiva and get a boon from him. As expected, their devotion pleased Shiva, who appeared to grant them a boon. When the king asked for a son, Shiva granted him sixty thousand sons to one wife and one son to another. While the sixty thousand sons would perish, the only son of another wife would give him an heir to take the throne.
Sagara’s wives, Vaidarbhi and Shaibya soon conceived. While Vaidarbhi gave birth to a gourd, Shaibya gave birth to a handsome child, Asamanja. The king asked the servants to throw away the gourd but the voice from heaven warned him not to do that. The king was ordered to extract the seeds from the vegetable and soak them in ghee-filled pots (this is similar to how Vyasa helped Gandhari give birth to a hundred Kauravas and one daughter). In due time, the king noticed that he had sixty thousand sons from the seeds.
While King Sagara’s sons were powerful, they were also cruel. They traveled through different regions and entered the other worlds, creating trouble wherever they went. Once again, the gods went to Brahma Deva for help. He asked them to be patient as their deeds would result in their deaths.
More time passed. King Sagara planned the Ashwamedha yagna. His evil sons followed the horse around the world. However, the horse disappeared when they reached the empty ocean. When they informed him about the missing horse, the angry king told his sons not to return unless they found the sacrificial horse.
Not knowing what to do, the sixty thousand sons began to dig up the empty ocean. This hurt Varuna a lot as his sides were being ripped apart by shovels and spades. The creatures living there cried in anguish as the princes killed them. The princes continued to dig in the northeast direction and reached the other end. Finally, at last, they saw the sacrificial horse in Rishi Kapila’s ashram.
Eager to grab the horse, the evil princes disrespected the rishi. Angered by their attitude, Kalipa opened his eyes to glare at them. The power from his eyes burned the sixty thousand princes and turned them into ashes.
When King Sagara heard of this from Narada, he remembered the words of Shiva. He calmly sent his good-hearted grandson, Anshuman, and asked him to bring the horse. Asamanja, his son was as cruel as the others, which made the king exile him. However, the king kept his grandson with him. Anshuman went to Rishi Kapila’s ashram and paid his respects to the great rishi. Pleased, the rishi told him to ask for a boon.
Anshuman asked him permission to take the horse back and also for water to purify his fathers. Rishi Kapila blessed him and said that Anshuman’s grandson would bring the scared waters down to the earth to purify the souls of King Sagara’s sons.
Anshuman thanked the rishi and respectfully took the horse to his grandfather. The Ashwamedha yagna was complete. He ruled for a few more years and handed the kingdom to Anshuman.
Anshuman ruled for a long time. His son, Dilipa was also a pious and dharma-following king. Dilipa performed a tapasya to bring Ganga to the earth but wasn’t successful. He handed over the responsibility to Baghiratha.
Read here to know the story of Gangavataranam.
Rishi Agastya Drank an Entire Ocean – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
In The Destruction Caused by Kalakeyas, we read about gods approaching Rishi Agastya to dry up the ocean as the danavas were hiding in it. That was how he drank an entire ocean.
Rishi Agastya accepted their request and said he would drink the ocean water and expose the Kelayas as it would save the world from more destruction. The rishi walked to the ocean shore with gods, gandharvas, yakshas, nagas, etc. They all wanted to see the miracle occur.
As he started to drink the ocean water, the gods chanted his praises and showered flowers on him. Soon, the ocean was dry. A massive empty hole stood in its place. The gods were ready with their weapons and quickly killed the Kelayas who had been causing so much trouble. A few danavas escaped and ran off to hide in dark corners and gaps between hills, far away from the site.
Once no danava could be found, the gods asked Agastya to release the water back into the hole. However, the rishi replied that the water had already been digested by his body. There was no chance of giving it back. Thanked him, the gods, along with Narayana, went to Brahma Deva. They had to find a way to refill the ocean.
Brahma replied that it would be done but not anytime soon. He said they had to wait for many generations until King Bhagiratha would be born in the Ikshvaku lineage and his relatives would play various roles in this process.
Read how King Sagara’s Sons Dug up an Ocean and King Bhagiratha Brought Ganga to Earth.
Why the Vindhya Mountain Swelled? – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
The Vindhya Mountain Range is located in the west-central part of modern India covering portions of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and the southern parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. There’s a story about why the mountain range has a partition in between.
Mount Meru, located in the Himalayas, had always been a sacred site for humans and gods. Its location was such that the sun’s daily path (from east to west) seemed like he was circumambulating Meru. Meru was also called the golden king of mountains (it shone like gold when sunrays fell on it).
The Vindhya Mountain noticed this and was angry. He demanded the sun to explain why Mount Meru got such respect. The sun replied that he didn’t plan it. The mountain’s location made it seem that way. However, Vindhya wasn’t pleased with the answer. He swelled in size and grew bigger and bigger until it could overshadow everything else.
This meant, Vindhya blocked the sun’s path and prevented him from traveling across the sky. The moon and the stars also faced the same issue. They could no longer move freely. This led to an imbalance in day and night, seasons, months, and years. Nature’s cycle went out of the loop. Humans suffered the consequences of these changes. The rishis were also troubled as they couldn’t perform their yagnas correctly.
Something had to be done. The rishis and the gods tried to convince Vindhya but he wouldn’t listen. They went to Rishi Agastya and asked him to restore the balance on the earth.
Agastya went to Vindhya with his wife and asked him to create a path to travel southward. He said they had some work on the other side and the mountain could close the gap once they returned. Vindhya agreed. He split into two and opened a path for the rishi and wife to walk through.
Agastya went through the path and never returned. The Vindhya Mountain had to keep the route open as per their agreement. This gap cleared the space for the planets and stars to resume their movements across the sky. Soon, everything got back into a proper cycle.
The Destruction Caused by Kalakeyas – Stories from Aranyaka Parva
Indra used the weapon named vajra, made of Dadicha’s Bones, and killed Vritra, the powerful asura. However, the Kalakeyas had to be dealt with.
Indra was still in a daze and afraid of Vritra. He couldn’t believe that he released the vajra or killed the daityas and ran to hide in a lake. While the thirty other gods killed the remaining Kalakeyas, some of them ran and hid in the depths of an ocean. Down there, they continued to plot methods to destroy the three worlds and take control of the universe. They decided that wiping out rishis and Brahmins who performed austerities would make it easier to ruin the three worlds. Without the knowledge of dharma, it would be an easy task to control the regions.
The Kalakeyas went out at night to attack various ashrams and kill the rishis. They targeted Vasishtha’s ashram, Chyavana’s hermitage, Bharadvaja’s ashram, and so on. The danavas gobbled up hundreds of fasting Brahmins and ascetics immersed in tapasya.
During the day, they would hide in the ocean and sleep. When darkness took over, the Kelayas would go on a rampage and devour the ascetics. As this continued, many people stopped studying Shastras and performing yagnas out of fear. They left their homelands to flee in different directions. Some angry ones tried to find the danavas but couldn’t.
This extensive destruction caused much anguish in the gods. They went to Narayana to request for his help. Narayana suggested they empty the ocean to force the Kelayas out of hiding. He said only Rishi Agastya had the capacity to empty an ocean (he was the son of Varuna, the god of water).
The gods bowed to Agastya in respect and asked him to help them again. He had previously cursed Nahusha and dethroned him as the king of heaven. He had also controlled the Vindhya Mountain when it swelled and disrupted nature’s cycle.
Rishi Agastya agreed to help. Read about what he did here: Rishi Agatsya Drank an Entire Ocean.