Skip to main content

How King Kaushika Became Sage Vishwamitra

 

Once upon a time, King Kaushika and his army went on a hunt. They soon became tired and hungry. So, they searched for food and water everywhere. They then came across Sage Vasishta's hermitage and asked him for food and water. Sage Vasishta and his wife Arundhati, offered them a sumptuous meal. King Kaushika was puzzled. He wondered how a poor Sage like Vasishta could offer him and his huge army such a sumptuous meal. He asked the Sage how he was able to do so. Vasishta told Kaushika that he could do this with the help of his cow, Kamadhenu (wish-fulfilling cow) which he had got as a gift from Lord Indra. King Kaushika then thought such an animal would be more useful to a king that a Sage. He asked Vasishta if he could give his cow. Vasishta said the cow was like a daughter to him and hence could not part with it. Kaushika pleaded several times but the Sage did not relent. This angered Kaushika and he asked his army to take possession of the cow forcefully! Vasishta asked Kamadhenu to protect herself. Kamadhenu then grew in size and a huge army emerged out of her and defeated Kaushika's army. King Kaushika wondered how a Sage could defeat him and decided to take revenge. So, he meditated on Lord Shiva to obtain powerful weapons. Lord Shiva was pleased with his penance and offered him those weapons. King Kaushika again challenged Sage Vasishta. But Vasishta's weapons destroyed his. Humiliated, he got to know that true power was in penance and not in weapons. He handed over his kingdom to his son and again performed a severe penance. He then came to be known as Sage Vishwamitra.




Comments

  1. Unknown19 February 2022 at 00:02

    hi i have a query in this. If everything was preplanned by god. Why would lord shiva give advanced weapons to King Kaushika even after knowing it will be of no use and he will be humiliated .

    Have you by any chance watched or read the book
    Chariots of the Gods
    Book by Erich von Däniken

    Regards
    Shiva
    Siva007chennai@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rudra19 February 2022 at 21:25

    Everything is pre-planned by God. Lord Shiva gave those weapons to him as a boon as King Kaushika performed a penance meditating on him. And regarding Chariots of the god book, yes, I have read it. However, I would prefer reading books written by Indian authors. Our land has such a great culture and heritage! I would recommend any Indian to read our books first before diving into books written by foreign authors!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Tulsi Is Not Offered While Worshipping Ganesha

  Once upon a time Tulsi, the daughter of Dharmaraj, was visiting all the holy places reciting the name of Lord Vishnu in order to get married. Once, in her journey on the banks of the Ganges she saw a handsome man with a charming smile on his face wearing yellow silken garments and sandalwood paste on his limbs and wearing gem-studded ornaments. He was meditating on Lord Vishnu as well. This handsome man was none other than Lord Ganesha. Tulsi immediately fell for him and asked him who he was. But, Lord Ganesha did not respond. She then poured some water on him and pushed him with her forefinger. Though Ganesha's meditation was disturbed, he smiled and asked her who she was. After giving her introduction, she asked him to marry her. Ganesha objected saying he was a celibate and not interested in worldly matters. Tulsi got angry and cursed him saying he will have to marry a wicked lady. In turn Ganesha cursed her saying she will turn into a plant and will marry a demon named S...
2 comments
Read more

Story Of Andal

  Vishnuchithan was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was childless and hence prayed to the Lord for a child. One day Lord Vishnu answered his prayers. He saw a girl child under a tulasi plant in the garden of a temple. He adopted the girl and named her Kothai. She was an incarnation of Bhudevi. But, Vishnuchithan was unaware of this. Everyday Vishnuchithan used to make a garland of flowers and offer it to the Lord. Kothai grew up devoted to Lord Vishnu as well. Each day her father made a garland of flowers to the Lord, she used to wear the garland on herself and dreamt to be married to Lord Vishnu. She was just a 5 year old girl! Vishnuchithan did not know about this. But, one day when he was about to offer the garland to the Lord, he noticed a strand of hair in it! When he found out the truth, he scolded Kothai.  So he made a new garland and offered to Lord Vishnu which was not worn by Kothai. But, it fell down on the ground. Vishnucithan was puzzled at this. That night, Lo...
1 comment
Read more

Origin Of Snakes And Garuda

  Sage Kashyapa had many wives. Two of them were Kadru and Vinata. He gave them each a boon. Kadru asked for a thousand snakes, equal in splendour as her sons. Vinata asked for two birds as her sons who had more strength, energy and size than the sons of Kadru. Kashayapa granted them both these boons. After a long time, Kadru gave birth to a thousand eggs and Vinata to two eggs. They were kept separately in warm vessels. After 500 years, the sons of Kadru came out of the eggs. But Vinata's eggs did not produce anything. She broke opened one of the eggs. The child inside the egg cursed her saying as she had prematurely broken the egg being jealous of Kadru, she had to serve Kadru as a slave. The child also said that if she waited patiently for another 500 years, an illustrious son will be born from the other egg and will release her from this slavery. Saying this the child rose to the sky. That child was called Aruna and became the charioteer of the Sun God. At the stipulated time, ...
1 comment
Read more