| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
VASISHTA |
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| A Real
PriestDesire, anger, miserliness, lust,
insolence and jealousy are the six enemies of man. They come in the way of man's growth.
Great men have always advised that we should conquer these six weaknesses and for that we
should keep our eyes, ears and tongue under our control. It is difficult to conquer them.
Vasishta had succeeded in keeping them under his control. Having admired his effulgence,
tapas and principled life, the kings of the lkshvaku dynasty had requested Vasishta to be
their preceptor and priest ('Purohita').
What does the word 'Purohita' mean? Purah-standing in the forefront. hita - one who does good. One who does good to his disciples is a Purohita. Vasishta was the priest to Dasharatha and also Rama and he was the preceptor too. They did not do anything without consulting Vasishta. When Vishwamitra came to Dasharatha requested him to send Rama to protect his sacrifices from being defiled, he did not like to send Rama as he was young But Vasishta advised, "0 King Vishwamitra is a great sage. Send Rama with him. It will be for the good. Vishwamitra took him and taught him the use of divine weapons. Sri Rama is also known as Raghava. Since he was born in the dynasty of Raghu, A king, he is called Raghava. Raghu was a famous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty Vasishta wasresponsible for him becoming so famous. There is a story, relating to this. King Dileepa did not have children Pained by this, Dileepa went with his queen Sudakshina to the hermitage of Vasishta and expressed to him the reason for his sorrow. Vasishta tried to find the reason for his childlessness with the help of his divine vision and found it out. Once Dileepa was going on some work. He was in deep thought and so passed by Kamadhenu who was there without saluting her. Therefore he was childless. Vasishta gave him the remedy also. He was advised to serve Nandini, daughter of Kamadhenu. Dileepa and his queen served Nandini with devotion. Raghu was born as his son later. Vasishta's kindness helped him to become famous . |
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