ORIENTAL SERIES.

364
VISWAMITRA.
with the powers and offices of the Yedic Twash^n, and is some*
times so called. He is not only the great architect, but the
general artificer of the gods and maker of their weapons. It was
he who made the Agneyastra or " fiery weapon," and it was he
who revealed the StMpatya-veda, or science of architecture and
mechanics. The Maha-bharata describes him as "the lord of
the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the
gods, the fashioner of all ornaments, the most eminent of artisans,
who formed the celestial chariots of the deities, on whose craft
men subsist, and whom, a great and immortal god, they continu-
ally worship."
In the BarnayaTia, Viswa-karma is represented as having built
the city of Lanka for the Rakshasas, and as having generated
the ape Nala, who constructed Kama's bridge from the continent
to Ceylon.
The Puranas make Viswa-karma the son of Prabhasa, the
eighth Vasu, by his wife "the lovely and virtuous Toga-siddha."
His daughter Sanjna was married to Surya, the sun ; but as she
was unable to endure his effulgence, "Vis wa-karma placed the sun
upon his lathe and cut away an eighth part of his brightness.
The fragments fell to the earth, and from these Viswa-karma
formed " the discus of Vishnu, the trident of Siva, the weapon
of Kuvera the god of wealth, the lance of Karttikeya god
of war, and the weapons of the other gods." Viswa-karma
is also represented as having made the great image of Jagan-
natha.
In his creative capacity he is sometimes designated Prajapati
He also has the appellations Karu, * workman ;
( woodcutter ;
'
Deva-vardhika, '
the builder of the gods ;
y
Takshaka,
'
Su-
dhanwan, *
having a good bow.'
VLSWAMITEA. A celebrated sage, who was born a Kshatriya,
but by intense austerities raised himself to the Brahman
caste, and became one of the seven great .Z&shis. According to
the J?tg-veda he was son of a king named Kusika, a descendant
of Kusa, but later authorities make him the son of Gathin or
Gadhi, king of Kanya-kubja, and a descendant of Puru; so
Viswamitra is declared in the Hari-vansa to be " at once a Paurava
and a Kausika" by lineage. According to some, Gadhi was
of the Kusika race, descended from Kusika Yiswamitra is
called Gadhi-ja and Gadhi-nandana, '
son of Gadhi.' The story