ORIENTAL SERIES.

VISWAMITRA. 367
Vasish/ha, the family priest, had done nothing to assuage the
wrath of the aggrieved father, and this offended Tri-sanku. At
the end of his penance, being in want of meat, he killed Yasish-
/ha's wonder-working cow and partook of her flesh;
for this
*
act Yasishrfha gave him the name of Tri-sanku, guilty of three
sins.* Yiswamitra was grateful for the assistance rendered by
Tri-sanku, and gave him the choice of a boon. He begged that
he might ascend bodily to heaven. Yiswamitra then installed
Tri-sanku in his father's kingdom, " and in spite of the resist-
ance of the gods and of Yasish&a he exalted the king alive to
heaven."
The Maha-bharata and the Kamayawa tell the story of Yiswa-
mitra's amour with Menaka, His austerities had so alarmed the
gods that Indra sent this Apsaras to seduce Yiswamitra " by the
display of her charms and the exercise of all her allurements,"
She succeeded, and the result was the birth of tfakuntala
Yiswamitra at length became ashamed of his passion, and " dis-
missing the nymph with gentle accents, he retired to the northern
mountains, where he practised
severe austerities for a thousand
years." He is said also to have had an amour with the nymph
Rambha.
The result of the struggle between Yasish&a and Yiswamitra
"
Yasishflia, being propitiated
is thus told in the Ramayawa :
by the gods, became reconciled to Yiswamitra, and recognised
his claim to all the prerogatives of a Brahman J?tshi. . . . Yiswa-
mitra, too, having attained the Brahmanical rank, paid all honour
to Vasishfluu"
The Ramayafia gives many particulars of Yiswaroitra's con-
nection with Kama. It was Yiswamitra who prevailed upon
Kong Dasa-ratha to send his son Rama for the protection of the
Brahmans against the attacks of Ravawa and his Rakshasaa He
acted as his guru, and returned with Rama to Ayodhya, where
the prince obtained the hand of Sita,
In the Markawdfeya and other Purawas the story is told of
Yiswamitra's implacable persecution of King Haris-chandra (see
Haris-chandra), one result of which was that Yasishtfha and
Yiswamitra cursed each other so that they were turned into
birds, and fought together most furiously till Brahma put an
end to the conflict, restored them to their natural forms., and
compelled them to be reconciled*