Story of King Kalmashpada and
Vasistha
Once upon a time there lived a certain king called
Kalmashpada, who was also called Saudas (being son of king
Sudas) who belonged to the Ikshaku dynasty. One day the king
went for a hunting expedition and became very tired and worn out because of
hunger and thirst. In this condition he came across Saktri, the
illustrious son of Vasistha, who happened to pass that way. The king,
in his arrogance, asked Saktri to stand aside and give him the right
of way. But Saktri, with his characteristic gentleness, in a sweet
manner reminded the king that a Brahmin was to be always honoured and
hence had the first right of way. This the king, out of pride and wrath would
not listen to and atlast, being enraged, he hit Saktri with a whip.
Saktri too lost his cool and cursed the king saying that as he behaved
like a rakshasa or a cannibal, he would become a terrible cannibal and
would be subsisting on human flesh. At this moment Viswamitra, who
could not forget his humiliation in the hand of Vasistha, and who had aspired to
make king Kalmashpada his disciple not very long ago, heard the entire
conversation by his spiritual power, sensed an opportunity to extract revenge
and hid himself nearby. The king was dejected by the curse and wanted to beg
forgiveness of the sage. But Viswamitra ordered a Rakshasa
named Kinkara to enter to body of the king, so that his senses got
bewildered and in that stupified state he returned to his kingdom.
On the way he met a Brahmin who asked the
king for some meat as food. the king requested the Brahmin to wait in
the wood and went to procure food in his kingdom but being in a bewildered soon
forgot his promise and after attending to his duties went to sleep. The
Brahmin waited in the wood patiently. At midnight the king woke up and
remembered his promise. He therefore asked his cook to procure some meat, cook
it and give it to that Brahmin in the wood. The cook went but could not
find any meat and reported the same to the king. The king, still stupefied,
asked the cook to get some human flesh, cook it and give it with rice to the
Brahmin. The cook did so and presented the same to the
Brahmin. However the high souled Brahmin came to know of the
unholy nature of the food through his spiritual power and being enraged by the
deception and dishonesty, cursed the king to become a Rakshasa. Now
along with Saktri's curse and with a Rakshasa in his body, the
curse of Brahmin only pronounced the effect. In this state the king
began to wander and by the design of providence came across Saktri, who
had originally cursed him to become a cannibal. When he saw Saktri he
got enraged. "You had cursed me to become a Rakshasa and therefore I
have obtained this state. I shall become a cannibal by first eating you." Saying
this, he attacked Saktri, cut him to pieces and ate him up.
Viswamitra, who was very happy to see his arch rival getting punished,
then urged the cannibal upon the other sons of Vasistha. The
Rakshasa ate them up as well. In this was, he killed all the hundred
sons of Vasistha.
When the great sage came back hom, he came to know
everything but never uttered a word of condemnation against either the king or
Viswamitra whose wickedness had led to the killing. He became mad with
grief and instead of cursing the perpetrators, he decided to take his own life.
For that purpose he went to the top of mount Meru and jumped but such
were his merits that he landed at the bottom like a bale of cotton, unhurt. He
next lit a great fire and entered into it, but by his ascetic power the fire had
no effect on him. He tied a large stone round his neck and tried to drown
himself in the ocean but the waves brought him ashore.
In this way, being prevented by destiny in his
design to kill himself the sage came back to his hermitage but the sight of the
empty ashrama devoid of his children increased his grief and thousandfold. He
then began wandering here and there to forget that terrible grief and in the
course of his venture came across a wild river full of turbulence. The sage
thought that the current of the river would be enough to drown him, tied himself
with a hundred cords and drowned himself in the river. But the river current,
instead of drowning him, tore across all the cords (Pasha) and made him
free and landed hims safely on the shore. The sage then named the river as
Bipasha (river Beas), i.e, one which frees from Pasha (cords).
Then he saw another river called Haimavati running down from
Himavat (Himalayas) and decided to jump into that fierce river. But the
river, on seeing the approaching sage, divided itself into hundred different
rivulets and ran in different directions, not willing to cause any harm to the
great sage. The river was thus named as Satadru (a hundredfold - River
Sutlej).
Vasistha then realized that it was
impossible for him to kill himself and came back to the ashrama. He
then saw Adrisyanti, Saktri's wife and his daughter in law and he heard
somebody reciting the Vedas in very sweet form of incantation.
Surpirsed, he asked Adrisyanti as to who was reciting the Vedas. The
lady was bashful and looking downwards she replied reverentially that it was her
son in the womb, the son of Saktri, who was also a great sage in
making. Vasistha then realized that his lineage was not finished, that
he had a grandson who was well conversant with all the Vedas and
Vedangas even before his birth and found great solace.
At this moment the terrible Rakshasa
again appeared from the woods and Adrisyanti was very much afraid by
seeing that enraged form. But Vasistha pacified her telling her that it
was none other than the great king Kalmashpada who had become a
Rakshasa owing to a stroke of misfortune and with his special powers he
revoked the curse and the king regained his old form and splendour. Thus being
reborn, the king's gratitude knew no bounds and he was terribly sorry for
whatever he had done in a senseless state, but Vasistha consoled him
and asked him not to show disrepsect to any Brahmin henceforth. King
Kalmashpada promised and he returned to his kingdom in Ayodhya
and there the people rejoiced to get him back. By the grace of Vasistha
he also had a son to rule his kingdom after him. Vasistha returned to
his hermitage and lived with Adrisyanti for bringing up his grandson
who was to be born soon.
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