Epics in Imprints-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA
Rudra after propitiation. He proceeds to
the ashrama of Vasistha, who is away.
Nandini warns Arundhati—the chaste
wife of the venerable sage, who prays and
gives the responsibility of protecting the
ashrama to the staff (brahmadanda) of the
sage, with a request that if possible it
should help Kausika in eliminating his
animosity! When Kausika attacks the
ashrama after giving sufficient time to the
inmates for escaping, he finds his weapons
no match to the brahmadanda—the holy
staff of Vasistha, which injures him
making him unconscious! When it is
about to eliminate him, Vamadeva reaches
the spot in the nick of time and prays it
not to do so. However, when it
circumambulates him, a dark shadow like
being leaves him. Vamadeva brings the
unconscious Kausika back to health.
Shaken, Kausika realises a change in him,
when he discovers that instead of
animosity, there is a strong wish to
emulate and if possible, to become a
Vasistha. Vamadeva tells him that the
change is due to the effect of
brahmadanda, which also protected the
ashrama, while Vasistha was away!
The turning point in the life of Kausika
is his desire to possess the divine cow.
Being a king and necessarily rajasic,
Kausika is eager to fulfill the desire. When
he does not succeed in doing so, his
natural reaction is anger and use of force.
Failure to possess the cow, and the
subsequent defeat, make him take
Vasistha as his adversary and an enemy
who is standing between him and the cow.
He is also aware that the prowess of
Vasistha is neither physical nor martial
but spiritual.
And so begins Kausika’s journey into
himself through greed. At the same time,
the behaviour of Vasistha and his disciple
brings home another very important point:
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always be very careful in choosing the
enemy. If the enemy is noble, lofty and
spiritually more advanced than you, then
he will always help you in your growth.
Vasistha is a Self-realised person, and all
his actions are for the welfare of the
existence. Though Kausika considers him
as his adversary, Vasistha does not
recognize any such emotion. Even when
Kausika attacks the ashrama, his wife
Arundhati prays for his welfare and wishes
him well, resulting in the transformation
of his anger into deep respect and a quiet
determination to emulate Vasistha. After
understanding the basics of tapas,
Kausika takes leave of Vamadeva, and
moves south ward to build a small hut on
the banks of river Rewa. The guidance
received from Vamadeva helps him in his
spiritual practice. Kausika’s warrior-like
attitude helps him to persevere and
experiment with the Vedic mantras,
prana—the life force, and understand the
secrets of creation. With an aspiration to
eliminate anger from his mind, Kausika
starts calling himself “Viswamitra—the
friend of the universe”.
Trisanku—the king of solar dynasty,
who nurtures a desire to go to heaven in
his physical body, approaches Vasistha, his
preceptor. Vasistha discourages him as he
would be going to heaven after death, and
also because that has never been done.
When the king insists and urges his
preceptor to create a new yajna for the
purpose, Vasistha refuses on the ground
that it will disturb the natural balance and
that with the help of such ritual even the
non-eligible persons will be able to go
there. Observing the obstinacy of Trisanku,
Vasistha sends him to Rajarsi Viswamitra.
When Trisanku approaches him
informing-him that the great sage himself
has directed him to do so, Viswamitra is
flattered and promises him to create a