Rajarishis and Mixed up Potions

Of Mixed-up Potions and Rajarishis

Many of us have heard of the Sage Vishwamitra. He was the one who visited King Dasaratha when Rama was a teenager and asked Dasaratha to send Rama with him to the forest to take care of the demons who were preventing a sacrificial yagna.

After the successful completion of the Yagna, he was the one who took Rama to Mithila to break the Shivadanush. After that, Rama and Seetha got happily married. He was playing the roll of matrimonial advisor to the divine couple.

Sage Vishwamitra was well known for his short temper and his tendency to let lose his wrath at the drop of the hat. His other defining trait was his ongoing feud with Sage Vasishta.

Amongst other things he was not a vedic brahmin but a kshatriya or a king who had high proficiency in usage of various weapons. He is also credited with being the person to whom the Gayathri mantra was given by the divine. (By giving, it is meant that the mantra is not being written or invented by a person but is heard as sound waves when they are in deep meditation.)

Vishwamitra was also the father of Shakuntala whose son Bharatha was one of the famous rulers of this country. Bharatha is considered one of the possible reasons why we as a nation are referred to as Bharath.

As is evident, we can keep giving many stories about Vishwamitra. But who is this Vishwamitra? Where is he from? Was he a divine being or did he have parents?

Let us understand the origins of this great Sage. It is normally said looking for the origins of a sage or a river can leave us a bit disappointed. Its because there could be a disconnect between a roaring river that we are in awe of, compared to the small stream in its origin. Similarly, a Sage could have been normal person who had done ordinary things like us. So, we may start wondering how and why he became a great Sage.

Setting aside these beliefs, let us understand who is this revered Sage Vishwamitra who is so important in our dharma.

Once upon a time, there was a Chandravanshi king called Gadhi. King Gadhi had a beautiful daughter called Satyavati. Satyavati was renowned for her beauty and wisdom all over the land. The King loved his daughter a lot and wanted to get her married to another powerful king.

One day a wandering hermit entered King Gadhi’s court. The King thought that the poor brahmin had come to ask for some alms. He asked him what he wanted. The hermit said, “Yes. I do want something from you. I want to marry your beautiful daughter Satyavati.” Understandably, the king was taken aback. No father wants his daughter to be married to a poor wandering brahmin as she will have to share his simple life and hardships. A king, who is a father, will be even more reluctant.

King Gadhi did not want to refuse the request of the brahmin as he did not want to invoke the brahmin’s curse upon himself or his kingdom.

King Gadhi tried logic first. He said, “Sage, I am a kshatriya and so is my daughter. We are a warring varna. (Varna is an occupation of a person or group of people who follow that occupation. This cannot be confused with caste as we understand in modern times). You are a brahmin who pursues knowledge. How can my daughter be a good wife to you?”

The Sage replied, “My name is Richika. I am descendant of Brighu Maharishi and the son Sage Chyavana. I have always loved your daughter Satyavati. I can teach her the ways of my varna and keep her happy. We just need your consent and blessings”

King Gadhi was distressed when logic did not work. So, he decided to try trickery. He thought for a few moments and said smilingly, “Sage Richika. I have taken a vow to give my daughter in marriage only to a man who gives me a thousand horses.”

Sage Richika said, “No issues”. King Gadhi said, “The horses should be white in colour.” Richika replied, “Okay, done.” A frustrated King Gadhi said, “They should have black ears.” Richika said confidently, “Oh King, I shall come back with 1000 white horses who have black ears. Make the arrangements for the wedding.” Saying so, he retired to the forest to do penance.

King Gadhi was depressed and worried about this arrangement. But his daughter Satyavathi consoled him saying that she liked Richika and was sure that she can live a happy life with him. Convinced that he may not be able to stop this, King Gadhi started the preparations for the wedding.

Meanwhile, Richika was doing intense penance towards Lord Varuna, the God of rains. The Lord of rains was pleased with his devotee and his pure love for Satyavati. He granted him his wish of 1000 horses with white body and black ears.

Sage Richika comes back to King Gadhi and weds Satyavati. The couple retire to the Sage’s hermitage and are living a happy and peaceful life.

One day, Satyavati sees her husband start preparing for a secret yagna. She questions her husband and he tells her that he is doing the special yagna to get a very powerful son. He told Satyavati that after the Yagna he will give her the Prashad. On consuming it, she will beget a very powerful son. Satyavati is thrilled about the blessing and the miracle of the yagna that will beget her a powerful son.

After sometime she told Richika, “Can you make another bowl of the Prashad? I was the only child of my parents. After we got married and I came to your hermitage, my mother has been very lonely. Moreover, they have been wanting a male progeny to take care of the kingdom.” With this single request, Satyavati was fulfilling her role as a daughter of her mother and as a princess of her kingdom. Richika was awed by Satyavati’s intellect.

Sage Richika loved his wife a lot and did not want to upset her. Still, he wanted to be sure that the king and the queen will accept the Prashad as wasting the Prashad after asking for it will be a sin. Satyavati assures Richika that her parents respected him and will do what is required for the sake of the kingdom.

Richika performs the yagna and at the end leaves two bowls of Prashad with Satyavati. He tells her, “The Prashad in the earthen bowl is for you as a brahmin wife. The Prashad in the golden bowl is for your mother, the queen. Ensure that she drinks it before sun down. " Then Richika left for a nearby village on some work.

Satyavati takes both the bowls to her mother, the queen and narrates what happened. The queen says, “Your husband must have ensured that all the best blessings are in your bowl as the child born from your womb will be his son. He will be a great and powerful scholar. What is the point of such a child being born in a poor brahmin family? He will be of more use as a prince in the royal family as the entire kingdom will benefit.”

Satyavati replies “A learned brahmin is also important to a kingdom as he will guide the king and his subjects in the right direction.”

The queen mother disagrees and replies, “But he does not have the power to change things the way a prince will. As a wife, you can always ask your husband Richika to do another yagna for you.”

The queen keeps arguing on these lines till finally Satyavati agrees to exchange the bowls. She gives her mother the earthen bowl and she takes the Prashad in the golden bowl.

When the Sage Richika returns in the evening, he asks Satyavati whether she had taken the Prashad and had given her mother her portion of the Prashad.

Satyavati hesitantly tells him about her trip to the palace and her discussions with her mother. Then she tells him that convinced by her mother, she had taken the Prashad from the golden bowl while the queen had the contents of the earthen bowl.

Sage Richika got angry and told Satyavati, “What have you done dear? I had prepared the potions exactly the way a brahmin and kshatriya needs to be. Yours had all the ingredients to make a brahmin child while your mother’s had all the ingredients to make a kshatriya. A brahmin needs to have sattva Guna and your potion had all the ingredients that will produce a child with sattva Guna - someone who will pursue knowledge and wisdom and is capable of doing severe austerities. In the case of your mother, I had put ingredients that induce rajasa Guna whereby the child will be in pursuit of might and valour. Now we will have a child prone to violence in a brahmin household while your mother will have a child who prefers pursuit of knowledge to ruling the kingdom.”

A terrified Satyavati begs Richika to find some antidote that can reverse the blunder she committed.

Sage Richika shakes his head, “Satyavati, this was destined to be. I cannot change it. Your mother will get a very powerful and intelligent son who will be a king but will go on to become a renowned Sage. In your case, I can delay the birth of a rajasic person at best by one generation. You will get a sattvic brahmin child whereas the next generation will be a child who will have the qualities of kshatriya. This is how the Creator intended it. I am powerless to change this.”

Her mother, who got to learn of the blunder she induced was sorry and ashamed. Eventually both the women became pregnant and had sons.

King Gadhi’s wife, named her son Kaushika. Kaushika was a ruler of the kingdom for some time and onto become Sage Vishwamitra. We will see about the reasons and events that led to the transition next week.

Satyavati had a boy who they called Jamadagni. The parents and the universe waited for the next generation in a lot of suspense and with a little bit of fear. We will cover the stories of the next generation next week.