Vasishta Rishi

VASISHTA
Author - N.Ranganatha Sharma
Vasishta was a great ascetic. He was the preceptor of great men like Sri Rama and Harischandra. He had conquered anger and desire. He was a great saint who humbled insolent men. As a preceptor he imparted knowledge and became a guide to thousands of aspirants.
Have you seen the Pole Star? If you observe keenly you can see it at night in the northern part of the sky shining bright always. Below the Pole Star you will find a group of stars i n the shape of inverted English letters as shown here-u). They are seven in number and are called ‘Saptarshi Mandala’ or the Great Bear,a constellation. The seven saints after whom they are named are: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishta. Rishi or saint means a wise man, the man who knows the secret of the Vedas.
Kulapati (Acharya, The Teacher)
Vasishta is supposed to have been born as the result of Brahma’s will-power. He was a great ascetic, laboured for the welfare of the world Vasishta was not a recluse, he was householder. He was married Arundhati. Arundhati is famous for virtues and devotion to her husband There is a small star close to Vasish in the Great Bear or Saptarshi Mandal They have named it after Arundha Among the Hindus, immediately after, the wedding, the bride is shown Arundhati and she worships the star. It is a symbolic acceptance of the ideal of virtue and devotion by the bride .
Vasishta had his hermitage on the banks of the river Saraswati. Arundhati spent all her time in the service of husband. He had with him thousand of disciples and taught them he Vedas.
Vasishta was affectionately addressed by his disciples as Kulapati or chiefpreceptor. In those days a teacher who fed and taught at least ten thousand students was called Kulapati. Vasishta's daily routine was to teach his disciples, to preach dharma to the visitors and to practise tapas or austerities.
There was an atmosphere of peace in the hermitage. The plants and trees were full of flowers and fruits. A variety of birds sang and flew about in the hermitage. Herds of deer and cows lived there. There was regular performance of several holy sacrifices for the good of the world. Several Hundreds of visitors used to come to the hermitage to meet Vasishta. The merit earneds by the performance of tapas was Vasishta's great strength.
He was a man of peace. He had conquered desire and anger. His Ashram needed great quantities of milk, curds and ghee for the feeding of thousands of his disciples, guests and performance of sacrifices regularly. Devendra had gifted to Vasishta a divine cow, having admired his generosity and performance of sacrifices. The cow was called Nandini. She was the daughter of Kamadhenu. Since it was a divine cow it had extra ordinary powers. The Ashram got plenty of milk and ghee from this cow. Since it had moonlike patches all over the body, it was also called 'Shabala.' The word mean many-coloured. Vasishta and Arundha were very fond of Nandini.
Nectar of Words for People in Sorrow
Raghu's son was the emperor Aja. Indumati, his wife, was as noble as she was lovely. Aja loved her very greatly. But she died young. Aja was depressed with sorrow. He forgot his duty as king. He sorrowed so much that he wished to die. Here is the advice that Vasishta
gave Aja at that time: "King, do not forget your duty because your wife has departed. It is not proper for you to think of following her. Your may die but you will not get Indumati. Birth and death are unavoidable. Set aside your sorrow and engage yourself in the doing of your duty. Soul leaves the body which sheltered it. Therefore it is not surprising that it leaves behind the relatives. No one can avoid death. Remember your parents. He who faces difficulties is the hero. When the wind blows, plants shake but the mountain does not shake. You should be firm like a mountain."
Vasishta was fond of cows. Once a man called Soudasa asked, "Great saint, which is the most sacred object in this world?" Vasishta said, "I consider the cow as the most sacred. Is then anything more nourishing than cow milk? Its manure is very important to grow our food-grains. For men like me everything necessary for , the performance of sacrifices comes from the cow. A cow is like the mother. We can live where the cow lives. Let cow live with us always. It is not enough i we worship and honour her. We must look after cows as we look after our mothers."
Vishwamitra Arrives as a Guest
Vasishta's tapas, patience and the aura of God-realization were so great that king Vishwamitra was influenced by him to give up his kingship and desired to become a Rishi like Vasishta.
Vishwamitra was a king. He went to the forest to hunt. Once, after hunting he was returning with his tired army and happened to pass through Vasishta's Ashram. He wished to pay his kingship and desired to respects to Vasishta. Vishwamitra saluted Vasishta with proper respect and humility. Vasishta was glad to meet king Vishwamitra. He entertained the king and his army with fruits and other delicacies and spoke to him with affection.
Vishwamitra got ready to depart after this. Then Vasishta said, "Vishwamitra, you are a guest here. You and your army may take food and rest here and then depart."
Vishwamitra thought, 'My army is big. If all of us stay here for food, the inhabitants in the Ashram will be put to hardship'. He said aloud, "Great soul, we are all satisfied with your kind words. I am fortunate to have met you. I thank you for your kindness. Extend the same love always. Allow us to depart." Vasishta said, "King, do not feel embarrassed. I do not feel happy if you go away without taking food. All of you should stay back." Vishwamitra agreed to do so since Vasishta pressed him.
As a result of Nandini's divine powers there were large quantities sweets and other eatables. Vishwamitra and his followers ate to their heart content.
Guest becomes Enemy
Vishwamitra was greatly surprise at what Nandini had performed. He felt greedy and wished to take the cow wit him to his capital. He went to Vasishta and expressed his desire.
Vasishta said, "King, Indra gave this cow to me. I am able to feed thousand of my disciples and guests every day only with the help of this cow gifted to me by Indra. Even the milk, curds and ghee required for sacrifices here and supplied by Nandini only. How can you ask for such a cow?"
Vishwamitra said, "Saint. I shall give in place of your cow one lakh decorated cows which will supply your requirement and you will not feel the absence of Nandini."
Vasishta said, "That is not the point, King. It is not proper to give away a gift made to me by Devas. it will go against the wishes of the Devas." Vishwamitra argued, "it will not violate any ethical norms. I shall supply all the requirements of your Ashram. Give me Nandini." Vasishta argued, "Why should you bear the burden of this expenditure? If you have ample Supply of foodgrains, use them to help your subjects. Give them to the poor. Let them be happy. I do not wish to accept money from a king for the use of our Ashram."
Thus the argument went on between the two. Vasishta would not agree to part with Nandini and Vishwamitra would not accept the refusal. Finally Vishwamitra became very angry. He thought, 'I am a great king. Whatever good things there are in. my kingdom should belong to me. A poor saint like Vasishta is disrespectful by his conduct and then said, "Vasishta, if you do not give Nandini, I will take her by force.
So saying, he got ready to leave.
Vasishta remained peaceful and do not say anything.
Vishwamitra called his soldiers an ordered, "Soldiers, tie up the cow will ropes and bring her along by force. They surrounded the cow. But she dodged them and came running to Vasishta and pleaded, "Great saint, the king's guards are trying to drag me by force. Do you give me up? What wrong did I do?"
Vasishta answered, "Shabala, you have done no wrong. I have not given you up. Vishwamitra is taking you by force and he has the army. Besides, he is my guest. How can I stop him? Then Nandini said to Vasishta, "Give me permission. I shall subdue his army.
Vasishta agreed. Nandini then bellowed once. By the divine power of her voice, lakhs of magical soldiers came into being and faced Vishwamitra's army. There was a great battle and Vishwamitra's army was defeated.
Power of Tapas
Vishwamitra became most worried. He felt ashamed because he was no able to face a saint and a cow though Like a fangless he had a large army snake and like a wingless bird, he felt sad. He was burning with the desire to take revenge. He decided to earn Powerful weapons by performing tapas. He went to the Himalayas and worshipped Ishwara with his austere tapas and earned in return knowledge of archery and divine weapons.
Vishwamitra was insolent because of his position as king and overlord. After winning the divine weapons, he was swollen with pride. It went to his head. He thought he would be able to defeat Vasishta completely and destroy him. With this determination he came to the hermitage of Vasishta. He began to rain arrows on the Ashram and destroy it. The other saints and disciples ran helter-skelter. The animals and bird! of the Ashram were terrified. There was wailing followed by destruction.
Vasishta came to know about the destruction caused by Vishwamitra. He comforted the frightened disciples and advised them to take courage. He tool, his Brahmadanda - the staff of a saint- and came out of his hermitage and confronted Vishwamitra and said, "O you fool, why are you destroying the Ashrarn without any cause? Is it proper for a king to destroy when he should protect?" Vishwamitra got ready to release his arrow called Agneyastra, a powerful weapon. Then Vasishta put up his saint's staff (Brahmadanda) before him and said, "Vishwamitra, show me your valour and strenght." Then Vishwamitra released - his Agneyastra against Vasishta. The arrow sped roaring with fire towards Vasishta but got reduced like a burnt-out faggot and fell at his feet like live coals dropping into a tank.
What is a Brahmadanda?
It is the staff in the hands of an ascetic. The power and strength of Vasishta's tapas was concentrated in the staff. In his anger Vishwamitra released one by one all his powerful weapons. Roudra, Aindra, Pashupata followed each other to the incantation of mantras or verses. But all of them were rendered powerless before Vasishta's Brahmadanda. Vishwamitra was furious with anger. When he had used all his weapons in vain, he took out the divinely endowed arrow called Brahmastra and fitted it in his bow. It frightened all in the Ashram as well divine beings in heaven. Every one became concerned for Vasishta Vishwamitra released it against Vasishta invoking the spiritual powers of mantras. Vasishta stood undisturbed. I appeared like a bright flame at this moment; sparks of fire emanated form his body. The staff in his hand look like the staff in the hands of Yama God of Death. The Brahmastra sped like lightning towards Vasishta make frightening noise like thunder. It pounced on Vasishta's Brahmadanda and was absorbed into it. The other saints who saw this praised Vasishta's strength said, "Great man, your strength beyond our guess. Control your I and become peaceful." Vasish, accepted their advice and became Calm.
There was no other weapon left with Vishwamitra. He had used all his weapons and had been totally defeated by Vasishta. He felt repentant. He realised his mistake. He understood the truth would always win. He felt, "I took the wrong path. It is impossible suppress truth by force." He sighed and went away saying, "There is no value for my power and strength. The real power. is that which comes from tapas.
Vishwamitra was a man determination, ambition and strength. He said to himself, "All my diving weapon are rendered powerless. The power of Vasishta is great. Tapas, truth are non-violence are matchless. I must become the equal of Vasishta." He gave his kingdom to his son and went to forest to perform tapas. He started performing severe tapas. People stopped calling him king and started calling him saint Vishwamitra. He became famous as a Rishi