| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
VISHWAMITRA |
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| "I
Shall Create Another Indra!" Under the leadership of Vishwamitra, the sacrificial rites began in right earnest. Trishanku, as per the instructions of Vishwamitra, offered 'Havis' to gods to the accompaniment of incantations chanted by sages. But none of the gods came to receive his portion. This enraged Vishwamitra further. He called Trishanku and said, "Trishanku, do not be afraid of all this. Now I will send you to heaven in your earthly body by the power of my penance." The congregation of sages was wondering at these words. In their presence itself Vishwamitra made Trishanku rise from the earth and dispatched him to heaven. Trishanku, in his earthly body itself, rose higher and higher and reached -the world of gods. Seeing Trishanku approaching heaven, Indra the lord of heavens became angry. He shouted out, "Trishanku, the senseless one, you have no place in our world, as you have been polluted by the curse of your Guru' and catching Trishanku by the neck, pushed him away. Trishanku turned upside down and began falling down to the earth. He was filled with great fear. In his agony he shouted out, "0 great sage! 0 Vishwamitra, I am ruined. Save me! Save me!" Hearing this entreaty Vishwamitra rose to occasion and ordered, 0 Trishanku, do not fear. Stop there!" He made Trishanku stand there in mid-heavens by the sheer power of his penance. To finalize the act he had undertaken, Vishwamitra created a new Saptarshi constellation and many other stellar constellations in the southern sky. After this he roared, "I shall now create another Indra or I will see to it that heavens do not -have an Indra!" Hearing this, the gods and sages shuddered in fear. They came and told Vishwamitra, "0 great sage! Trishanku bears the curse of his Guru. He cannot have a place in heaven." Vishwamitra told them, "But my vow and word cannot become false. Let those stellar constellations created by me be permanent. Amidst them let Trishanku be there in his earthly body." Gods agreed to it. Vishwamitra was immensely pleased. He had won his battle against Indra and gods. But to his dismay he realized that all the power he had gained by his long and hard penance had been spent due to his anger. So, he went westwards to the holy place called Pushkara to perform penance again. |
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