Mahaviracharita ("Exploits of a Great Hero") is a play by the 8th-century Sanskrit playwright Bhavabhuti based on the early life of Rama , the hero of the Ramayana and venerated as a Hindu deity. It is the first play of Bhavabhuti, thus lacking in character and style compared to his two known later works: Malatimadhava and Uttararamacharita . Though currently composed of seven acts, the whole present text may not have been composed by Bhavabhuti.
66-417: The play is composed of seven acts. Most modern scholars agree that Bhavabhuti has written the play from the beginning only to the 46th verse of Act V. According to one theory, the rest of the play is lost to time. Another theory suggests that Bhavabuti left the play incomplete after the 46th verse of Act V. However, two different extensions replace the lost material to make up seven acts. The North Indian version
132-457: A flying machine and learn of Parshurama's defeat. Malyavan orders Surpanakha to possess the body of Manthara , Rama's stepmother queen Kaikeyi 's maid. He plots to bring Rama to the Dandaka Forest where Ravana's demons and monkey ally Vali would get rid of him. Sita could then be easily acquired for Ravana and his brother Vibhishana would not be able to interfere. If he sides with Rama,
198-460: A tapasya for several years to please Shiva , who bestows upon him the knowledge of celestial weaponry. He proudly goes to Vasiștha's ashram again and uses all kinds of powerful weapons to destroy Vasishta and his hermitage. He succeeded in the killings of Vasistha's thousand sons but not Vasistha himself. An enraged Vasistha brings out his brahmadanda , a wooden stick imbued with the power of Brahma . It consumes Vishvamitra's most powerful weapon,
264-580: A Chandala. Trisanku was transformed into a person with body smeared of ash, clothed in black and wearing iron jewelry. Unrecognizable to his subjects, he was driven out of the kingdom. In his exile, Trisanku came across the sage Vishvamitra, who agreed to help him. Vishvamitra organized a great sacrifice and ritual propitiating the Devas , pleading that they accept Trisanku into heaven. Not one Deva responded. Angered, Vishvamitra used his yogic powers and ordered Trisanku to rise to heaven. Miraculously, Trisanku rose into
330-548: A Kshatriya with qualities of Brahmin, and, Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni , father of Parashurama , a Brahmin with qualities of a warrior. Maharshi Vasistha possessed a divine-cow Kamadhenu that was able to give everything that one wished for. Once king Kaushika (Vishvamitra) saw the cow and wished to possess her. He asked Vasistha to hand her over but Vasistha refused to do so saying she actually belongs to Devas and not him. King Kaushika became angry due to his arrogance and attacked Vasistha with all his forces. However, he
396-405: A bare minimum. He is tested again by Indra, who comes as a poor Brahmin begging for food just as Kaushika is ready to break a fast of many years by eating some rice. Kaushika instantly gives his food away to Indra and resumes his meditation. Kaushika also finally masters his passions, refusing to be provoked by any of Indra's testing and seductive interferences. At the penultimate culmination of
462-611: A bridge of flowing rocks to by built by the monkeys. Rama's monkey envoy Angada arrives, but his peace deal is rejected. Battle preparations start. The god Indra and the gandharva Chitraratha come to witness the epic war. The whole war is presented as a dialogue between them. Finally, Rama slays Ravana. Act VII starts with the presiding deities of the cities Lanka and Alaka discussing Sita's trial by fire, Vibhishana's coronation and Rama's preparations to return home. Rama and his party return to Ayodhya in Ravana's flying machine, describing
528-643: A child called Bharata . Kanva describes this tale in the Mahabharata : And the timid and beautiful Menaka then entered the retreat and saw there Visvamitra who had burnt, by his penances, all his sins, and was engaged still in ascetic penances. And saluting the Rishi, she then began to sport before him. And just at that time Marut robbed her of her garments that were white as the Moon. And she thereupon ran, as if in great bashfulness, to catch hold of her attire, and as if she
594-449: A confrontation between Rama and Parashurama. This overstretched dialogue is considered as a sign of the immaturity of Bhavabhuti at this period. The play is also criticized as a listing of events rather than a coherent composition. Bhavabuti is praised for his characterization of the various epic personalities and his innovative remodeling of the story, inducing various new themes and events. Bhavabuti's analysis of politics and his handling of
660-689: A conversation between Indra and Dasharatha, who arrive from heaven in Ayodhya in a flying machine. They discuss Ravana's defeat, Vibhishana's coronation, Sita's fire ordeal and Rama's arrival in Ayodhya. The gods and sages bless the crowned Rama and Sita, ending the play. Though Bhavabhuti's inspiration is the Ramayana, the earliest narrative of Rama's life; he has deviated with the Ramayana plot at many places, like love feelings in Sita's heart, Kaikeyi absolved of all guilt, Surpanakha possessing Manthara and Rama killing Vali in
726-549: A daughter with her, Vishvamitra then travels south to the Godāvarī to resume his austerities, settling down at a spot next where Śiva stood as Kālañjara. Vishvamitra was also tested by the Apsara Rambha . She, however, was also cursed by Vishvamitra. After cursing Rambha, Vishvamitra goes to the highest mountain of Himalayas to perform an even more severe tapasya for over 1000 years. He ceases to eat and reduces his breathing to
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#1732872873979792-449: A deer, while Ravana kidnaps Sita. Jatayu dies trying to protect Sita. In his last words, he reveals Sita's captor to Rama. As they move forward, they hear the distress call of Shramana. Lakshmana kills demon Kabandha and frees Shramana, the envoy who has joined forces with Vali's brother Sugriva . Malyavan instigates Vali to attack the grief-stricken Rama. Vali confronts Rama, and this is where Bhavabhuti's Act V ends. Act V continues with
858-413: A fair battle. Bhavabhuti has even quoted some Ramayana verses verbatim. A unique feature of the play is the plotting of Malyavan. While Ramayana is clear that Rama kills Vali justly from a hidden spot while Vali and Sugriva are in a duel, Bhavabhuti portrays Vali allying with the villain Ravana and killed in a fair battle, thus legitimatising the death of Vali at the hands of Rama. The most prominent rasa
924-433: A fair duel between Vali and Rama. Rama slays Vali, who in his dying breath asks Rama for forgiveness and advises him to form an alliance with Sugriva and Vibhishana. Act VI begins with a disappointed Malyavan learning that his plans have failed, Lanka is set on fire by Rama's monkey general Hanuman and Ravana's obsession with Sita and his wife Mandodari 's plea to return Sita. In the main scene, Mandodari tells Ravana about
990-626: A feud regarding the position of the Bharata purohita. However, this view has been criticized due to lack of internal evidence and the projection of later views onto the Rigveda. In post-Rigvedic literature Viśvāmitra becomes a mythical sage. Most of the stories related to Vishvamitra's life is narrated in the Valmiki Ramayana . Vishvamitra was a king in ancient India, also called Kaushika (descendant of Kusha) and belonged to Amavasu Dynasty . Vishvamitra
1056-429: A multi-thousand-year journey, Kaushika's yogic power is at a peak. At this point, Brahma, as the head of Devas led by Indra, names Kaushika a Brahmarishi and names him Vishvamitra or Friend of All for his unlimited compassion. He then goes to meet Vashishta. It was customary that, if a sage was greeted by an equal or superior person, the sage would also greet the person. If the sage was greeted by an inferior person,
1122-469: A son having the qualities of a Brahmin and so he gave Satyavati a sacrificial offering ( charu ) which he had prepared to achieve this objective. He also gave Satyavati's mother another charu to make her conceive a son with the character of a Kshatriya at her request. But Satyavati's mother privately asked Satyavati to exchange her charu with her. This resulted in Satyavati's mother giving birth to Vishvamitra,
1188-550: A veiled threat to Ravana to stop atrocities on sages in Dandaka Forest or face the consequences. It offers friendship on condition he stops the carnage. Malyavan provokes Parshurama against Rama, who broke his guru Shiva's bow. In the main scene of the act, an enraged Parshurama arrives in Mithila and dashes into the inner chambers of Rama and Sita. Rama — embraced by a frightened Sita — meets Parshurama and praises him to calm
1254-502: Is Vira or heroism, expressed in Rama's valorous speech. Other rasa s include Raudra (anger), in Parshurama's speech and Bibhasta (disgust) in grotesque descriptions of demons and their corpses. Bhavabhuti uses 20 poetic metres in the 200 verses of the play. Much about Bhavabhuti's life is known from the information given by him in the prologue of this play. Two of the acts are devoted to
1320-512: Is composed by a poet Vinayaka and the South Indian version is attributed to Subrahmanya, but this is disputed. Both versions do not resemble Bhavabuti's style. However, the North Indian version is considered better in quality than the South Indian version. The prologue starts with the sutradhara (narrator) singing the prayer to God, followed by the introduction of Bhavabhuti and the themes of
1386-579: Is featured in the regional legend of the Ranganathaswamy temple of Srirangam , considered the foremost of the Divya Desams , the abodes of Vishnu in Sri Vaishnavism . During the coronation of Rama , the avatar of Vishnu, Vibhishana was presented the sacrosanct Sri Ranga vimana . He decided to carry it to his kingdom of Lanka. Midway his journey, in order to rest, he placed the image on the banks of
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#17328728739791452-424: Is highly renowned by the name Gaadhi was the son of Kushanabha and Gaadhi's son is this great-saint of great resplendence, Vishvamitra. Vishvamitra ruled the earth and this great-resplendent king ruled the kingdom for many thousands of years. His story also appears in various Puranas; however, with variations from Ramayana . Vishnu Purana and Harivamsha chapter 27 (dynasty of Amaavasu) of Mahabharata narrates
1518-500: Is instantly ended. Another story Vishvamitra is known for is his creation of his own version of Svarga or heaven, called Trisanku Svarga . When a proud King Trisanku asked his Guru Vashista to send him to heaven in his own body, guru responded that the body cannot ascend to heaven. King Trisanku then asked Vashista's hundred sons to send him to heaven. The sons, believing that Trisanku should not come to them after their father had refused, took outrage and cursed Trisanku to be
1584-416: Is pacified by Rama. Suddenly, demoness Tataka attacks the sacrifice site. Vishwamitra orders Rama to slay her, but Rama hesitates to kill a woman. The sage justifies her slaying since she otherwise would slay the priests. The powerful Tataka is killed, shocking Sarvamaya. A pleased Vishwamitra grants the princes divine weapons. Kushadhvaja wishes to have Rama as his son-in-law. Janaka imposes a condition, only
1650-451: Is the younger brother of Ravana , the King of Lanka , in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana . Though a rakshasa himself, Vibhishana turned his back on Ravana, and defected to Rama 's side, owing to his dharma . After Rama defeated Ravana, the former crowned Prince Vibhishana as the King of Lanka before returning to Ayodhya . Prince Vibhishana is portrayed as a pious and pure of heart in
1716-710: The Sathara Waram Deviyo (four guardian deities). This belief was more prominent in the Kotte period . According to the Ravana Katha of Wickramasinghe Adigar, after the defeat of Ravana, Vibhishana transferred the Yaksha capital from Alaka mandawa to Kelaniya . In the 15th-century poem of Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera , the sælalihini sandesaya , Myna is ordered to carry the missive to Vibhishana at his temple in Kelaniya. After
1782-565: The Devastras or celestial weaponry [bala and ati bala], trains them in advanced religion and guides them to kill powerful demons like Tadaka , Maricha and Subahu . He also leads them to the Swayamvara ceremony for princess Sita , who becomes wife of Rama. Vishvamitra is said to have written the Gayatri Mantra . It is a verse from a sukta of Rigveda (Mandala 3.62.10). Gāyatrī is the name of
1848-481: The Kaveri . After performing his routine puja , he tried to lift the vimana, but it could not be lifted. Vishnu appeared to him and said that he desired to stay as Ranganatha in the place, which went on to become Srirangam . Vishnu also desired to watch the brahmotsavam at Tirucherai. The festivals of the temple are thus considered sacred. In some period of history Sinhalese people have considered Vibhishana as one of
1914-511: The Ramayana , Vibhishana's characterisation assists in demonstrating the practical implications of the concept of dharma . The epic stresses that neither Vibhishana nor Kumbhakarna strayed from the path of dharma and that there is no single way out of a moral dilemma. The Ramayana teaches that Kumbhakarna adhered to the dharma of loyalty to his kin when his advice fails, while Vibhishana chose to oppose his kin when his advice failed. Vibhishana
1980-576: The Rigveda , including the Gayatri Mantra (3.62.10). The Puranas mention that only 24 rishis since antiquity have understood the whole meaning of —and thus wielded the whole power of — the Gayatri Mantra. Vishvamitra is supposed to have been the first, and Yajnavalkya the last. Before renouncing his kingdom and royal status, Brahmarishi Vishvamitra was a king, and thus he retained the title of Rajarshi , or 'royal sage'. Historically, Viśvāmitra Gāthina
2046-711: The Vedic meter in which the verse is composed. Gayatri mantra is repeated and cited very widely in Vedic literature and praised in several well-known classical Hindu texts such as Manusmriti ("there is nothing greater than the Savitri (Gayatri) Mantra .", Manu II, 83), Harivamsa and Bhagavad Gita . The mantra is an important part of the upanayana ceremony for young males in Hinduism and has long been recited by dvija men as part of their daily rituals. Modern Hindu reform movements spread
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2112-426: The brahmastra . Vasistha then attempts to attack Vishvamitra, but his anger is allayed by Devas . Vishvamitra is left humiliated while Vasistha restores his hermitage. Menaka was born during the churning of the ocean by the devas and asuras and was one of the most beautiful apsaras (celestial nymph) in the world with quick intelligence and innate talent. However, Menaka desired a family. Due to his penance and
2178-714: The 16th century, he was replaced as a God of the four warrants by the goddess Pattini . He continues to be worshipped by a diminishing number of adherents, mainly in the Kelaniya area. The Sapta Chiranjivi Stotram is a mantra that is featured in Hindu literature : अश्वत्थामा बलिर्व्यासो हनुमांश्च विभीषण:। कृप: परशुरामश्च सप्तैतै चिरञ्जीविन:॥ सप्तैतान् संस्मरेन्नित्यं मार्कण्डेयमथाष्टमम्। जीवेद्वर्षशतं सोपि सर्वव्याधिविवर्जितः॥ aśvatthāmā balirvyāsō hanumāṁśca vibhīṣaṇaḥ। kṛpaḥ paraśurāmaśca saptaitai cirañjīvinaḥ॥ saptaitān saṁsmarēnnityaṁ mārkaṇḍēyamathāṣṭamam। jīvēdvarṣaśataṁ sopi sarvavyādhivivarjitaḥ॥ The mantra states that
2244-450: The Ayodhyan princes to Kushadhvaja, who in turn introduces his nieces to the sage. From behind the curtain, Ahalya hails Rama as her saviour and Vishwamitra tells her story to the Mithila royalty. Sita realizes that Rama is no ordinary being and develops feelings for him. Sarvamaya, a messenger of the demon king of Lanka - Ravana - demands Sita for his king. An angry Lakshamana reacts, but
2310-505: The Manthara, Surpanakha, and Parshurama episodes with Malyavan's devious background politics is commended. Vishwamitra Vishvamitra ( Sanskrit : विश्वामित्र , IAST : Viśvāmitra ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India . Vishvamitra is one of the seven Brahmarshi . According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of
2376-450: The banks of the river Malini coursing along a valley of the charming mountains of Himavat. And there she gave birth to that daughter. And she left the new-born infant on the bank of that river and went away. However, later, Vishvamitra merely cursed Menaka to be separated from him forever, for he loved her as well and knew that she had lost all devious intentions towards him long ago. After succumbing to Menakā's flirtations, and after having
2442-474: The battle against Shambar. When they found their Prince Vishvarath alive, they feel happy but they could not accept Ugra as their future queen as she is an Asura. To convert Ugra into an Sura, Vishvarath creates Gayatri Mantra, but people still refuse to accept her. Soon she gives birth to a son, but to save the son from the angry people, the greatest female sage Lopamudra sends the child to a hidden place. To Lopamudra and Vishvarath's sadness, people kill Ugra. But
2508-537: The birth of Vishvamitra. According to Vishnu Purana , Kushanabha married a damsel of Purukutsa dynasty (later called as Shatamarshana lineage - descendants of the Ikshvaku king Trasadasyu) and had a son by name Gaadhi, who had a daughter named Satyavati (not to be confused with the Satyavati of Mahabharata ). Satyavati was married to an old man known as Richika who was foremost among the race of Bhrigu . Ruchika desired
2574-481: The epic. After performing a penance to invoke a boon from Brahma , he begged the deity to always set his mind on the path to righteousness, and nothing more. Vibhishana was the youngest son of the rakshasi Kaikesi and the sage Vishrava , who was himself a son of the sage Pulastya, one of the Prajapati . Vibhishana was the younger brother of the King of Lanka, Ravana, and also the sibling of Kumbhakarna . Even though he
2640-478: The father Dasharatha's plea, the seniority of Vashishtha to Parshurama (thus Parshurama should listen to his uncle Vashishtha), and Satananda's warning to use his penance power against his cousin Parshurama. Janaka and Dasharatha intervene and accelerate the dispute. As the scene is set for a battle between Vishwamitra and Parshurama's penance powers, Rama enters and humbly praises Parshurama, who prepares to fight him. In Act IV, Malyavan and Surpanakha visit Mithila in
2706-691: The forest for a 14-year exile and crown her son Bharata as king. Listening to this wish, Dasharatha faints. Bharata agrees to rule the kingdom till Rama returns and takes Rama's sandals as his reminder. The sorrow of Ayodhya is then described. Rama with Sita and Lakshmana leave for the forest and set up camp in Chitrakuta , where demon Viradha is troubling the people. Act V starts with a short story about Surpanakha lusting for Rama and Lakshmana cutting her nose, when they moved to Panchavati . Demons Khara , Dushana and Trisiras attack in vindication and are killed. The vulture Jatayu sees Rama and Lakshmana chasing
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2772-449: The king Harishchandra to become a pauper. Vasishta accompanied him by becoming a bird himself to help him. There were several such instances of violent encounter between the sages and at times, Brahma , god of creation, had to intervene. Vasishta destroys Vishvamitra's entire army by the simple use of his great mystic and spiritual powers, breathing the Om syllable. Vishvamitra then undertakes
2838-407: The king Vishwamitra turning into a Brahmarishi has been the topic of a mytho-fiction book by Dr. Vineet Aggarwal. Amar Chitra Katha series number 599 titled Vishwamitra, published in 1975, also tells the story of Vishwamitra in the form of a graphic novel. . Vibhishana Vibhishana ( Sanskrit : विभीषण , romanized : Vibhīṣaṇa , lit. 'formidable')
2904-591: The man who can string the enormous bow of the god Shiva may win the hand of Sita. So, Rama mounts the string on the bow, breaking it in the process. Kushadhvaja and Vishwamitra decide to marry Sita and Urmila to Rama and Lakshamana. Tataka's sons Maricha and Subahu attack the sacrifice site. Vishwamitra orders Rama to slay them, ending the Act. In Act II, Ravana's minister Malyavan and sister Surpanakha discuss news of Tataka and Subahu's death, Maricha's narrow escape and Rama's marriage. A letter from Parshurama arrives with
2970-399: The one sacrificed, as was originally promised to Varuna, so young Sunashepa is taken. A devastated and terrified Sunashepa falls at the feet of Kaushika, who is deep in meditation and begs for his help. Kaushika teaches secret mantras to Sunashepa. The boy sings these mantras at the ceremony, is blessed by Mitra and Varuna and Ambarisha's ceremony is completed. In another version of
3036-448: The places they see below them. Hanuman flies ahead to convey the message of Rama's arrival to Bharata. A welcome party greets Rama and the play ends with Rama's coronation. Act V continues with Vali and Rama agreeing to fight. In Act VI, Rama kills a deer, not knowing it is Vali, cursed by a sage and turned into a deer. Sage Agastya gives Rama divine vision so that he can see the evil designs of Malyavan and Ravana. Act VII starts with
3102-457: The plan will fail and Lanka will be doomed, warns Malyavan. In the main scene, the defeated Parshurama politely talks to the sages and kings, with whom he quarrelled in the last Act and is forgiven for his transgressions. The sages bless Rama and Sita and leave. Parshurama gives away his weapons and requests Rama to protect the sages of Dandaka Forest. The possessed Manthara brings a false letter from Kaikeyi which instructs Dasharatha to send Rama to
3168-430: The play, pointing out the starting point and context of the story portrayed in Act I. In Act I, the sage Vishwamitra has called his disciples Rama and his brother Lakshmana to guard his sacrifice against demons. He has also invited King Janaka to the sacrifice site but he is unable to attend and sends his brother Kushadhvaja and daughters Sita and Urmila as his delegates. Act I begins with Vishwamitra introducing
3234-606: The power he achieved through it, Vishvamitra frightened the gods and even tried to create another heaven. Indra, frightened by Vishvamitra's powers, sent Menaka from heaven to earth to lure him and break his meditation. Menaka successfully incited Vishvamitra's lust and passion. She succeeded in breaking the meditation of Vishvamitra. However, she fell in genuine love with him and a girl was born to them who later grew in Sage Kanva's ashram and came to be called Shakuntala . Later, Shakuntala falls in love with King Dushyanta and gives birth to
3300-451: The practice of the mantra to include women and all castes and its recitation is now widespread. Vishvamitra had many children from different women. Madhuchhanda was also a composer of many hymns in the Rigveda. According to the Mahabharata , Sushruta , the father of plastic surgery, was one of his sons. Ashtaka, who was born from Madhavi , was successor to his kingdom. Shakuntala
3366-433: The sage would simply bless them. Initially, when Vishvamitra greeted Vashishta with the pride of being a new Brahmarishi in heart, Vashishta simply blessed him. Suddenly all pride and desire left Vishvamitra's heart and he became a clean and clear Brahmarishi. When Vishvamitra turned back to leave, Vashishta realised a change of heart and proceeded to greet Vishvamitra. Vishvamitra is also embraced by Vashista and their enmity
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#17328728739793432-459: The sky until he reached heaven, where he was pushed back down by Indra . Enraged even more by this, Vishvamitra commenced the creation of another universe (including another Brahma) for Trisanku. He had only completed the Universe when Brihaspati ordered him to stop. Trisanku, however, did not fully transcend through Trisanku Svarga created for him. He remained fixed and upside-down in the sky and
3498-399: The son is saved, without the knowledge of Vishvarath. This child grows young and he comes to sacrifice himself in the ceremony of Ambarisha (or King Harishchandra). In the Hindu epic Ramayana , Vishvamitra is the preceptor of Rama and his brother Lakshmana . Rama is prince of Ayodhya , and believed to be the seventh Avatar of god Vishnu . Vishvamitra gives them the knowledge of
3564-464: The story, Sunahshepa is lost son of Vishvamitra. When Vishvamitra was Prince of Bharats (Kaushik) - and his name was Vishwarath then, he was abducted by the enemy king Shambar. There, Shambar's daughter, Ugra, falls in love with Vishvarath. Ugra convinces Prince Vishvarath to marry her. Looking at the good character of Vishvarath, Shambar also agrees for the marriage. Soon after the marriage, the Bharatas win
3630-462: The success of Rama's attack, including revealing the secret path to the temple of Nikumbala, the family deity of the Pulastya clan. In the climactic battle between Rama and Ravana, when Rama was unable to kill Ravana, he revealed the secret of Ravana's invulnerability to Rama. He told Rama that Ravana has stored the nectar of immortality in his belly and it is necessary to dry it. With this knowledge, Rama
3696-483: The warrior-sage. While Sita is taken away, on the orders of Parshurama, Janaka and his family-priest Satananda arrive on the scene and send Rama inside. Satananda tries to pacify Parshurama and reminds him that he had broken social norms by entering the inner chambers, but Parshurama pays no heed. The sage Vashishtha , family-priest of Rama, Vishwamitra and Satananda try to calm Parshurama in Act III, with arguments including
3762-536: Was a Rigvedic rishi who was the chief author of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda. Viśvāmitra was taught by Jamadagni Bhārgava . He was the purohita of the Bharata tribal king Sudās, until he was replaced by Vasiṣṭha . He aided the Bharatas in crossing the Vipāśa and Śutudrī rivers (modern Beas and Sutlej ). In later Hindu texts, Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha have a long-standing feud, and scholars have stated they historically had
3828-437: Was born as a rakshasa , he was pious and considered himself a Brahmin , since his father was a sage. Due to Vibhishana's differences with Ravana, and because he was against the act of kidnapping Sita, he fled Lanka. His mother, Kaikesi , advised him to go and serve Rama, who was at that time assembling an army to defeat Ravana and to recover his wife. As a consequence, he divulged the secrets of Ravana's army and made sure Rama
3894-466: Was born from the damsel Menaka . She was the mother of Bharata , who became a powerful emperor as well as an ancestor of Kuru kings. Vishvamitra is one of the eight main gotras of Brahmins. All Brahmins belonging to Kaushika or Vishvamitra gotra are believed to have descended from Sage Vishvamitra. The distinction can be found from the respective pravaras, Kaushika is one of the pravara gotras of Vishvamitra gotra among Brahmins . The story of
3960-474: Was defeated by the power of Vasistha's penance and Kamadhenu's created soldiers and was somehow rescued by Vamadeva. He asked Vamadeva how Vasistha could defeat him all alone. Vamadeva told him this happened due to Vasistha's position as "Brahmarishi" due to his tapasya (penance). Kaushika then wanted to gain "Brahmarishi" like Vasistha. Doing penance guided by Vamadeva, King Kaushika eventually became Vishvamitra. Traditional In one encounter, Vishvamitra cursed
4026-433: Was exceedingly annoyed with Marut. And she did all this before the very eyes of Visvamitra who was endued with energy like that of fire. And Visvamitra saw her in that attitude. And beholding her divested of her robes, he saw that she was of faultless feature. And that best of Munis saw that she was exceedingly handsome, with no marks of age on her person. And beholding her beauty and accomplishments that bull amongst Rishis
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#17328728739794092-502: Was finally able to kill Ravana. He had a daughter named Trijata . When Rama was about to leave Ayodhya at the end of his reign, he assumed his true form of Vishnu, ordering Vibhishana to stay on earth and serve the people and guide them to the path of truth and dharma . Hence, Vibhishana is considered one of the immortals, the Chiranjivis . Vishnu also ordered Vibhishana to pray to the family deity of Solar dynasty , Ranganatha . In
4158-414: Was originally the King of Kanyakubja (modern day Kannauj ). He was a valiant warrior and the great-grandson of a great king named Kushik . Valmiki Ramayana , prose 51 of Bala Kanda, starts with the story of Vishvamitra: There was a king named Kusha (not to be confused with Kusha , son of Rama ), a mindson (manasputra) of Brahma and Kusha's son was the powerful and verily righteous Kushanabha. One who
4224-455: Was possessed with lust and made a sign that he desired her companionship. And he invited her accordingly, and she also of faultless features expressed her acceptance of the invitation. And they then passed a long time there in each other’s company. And sporting with each other, just as they pleased, for a long time as if it were only a single day, the Rishi begat on Menaka a daughter named Sakuntala. And Menaka (as her conception advanced) went to
4290-600: Was transformed into a constellation , which is now known as Crux . In the process of forming a new universe, Vishvamitra used up all the tapas he had gained from his austerities. Therefore, after the Trisanku episode, Vishvamitra had to start his prayers again to attain the status of a Brahmarshi and become an equal of Vashista. While undertaking a penance, Kaushika helps a boy named Shunashepa who has been sold by his parents to be sacrificed at Harishchandra 's yagna to please Varuna . The king's son Rohit does not want to be
4356-503: Was victorious in the great battle. Rama accepted Vibhishana's fealty and anointed him the King of Lanka after Ravana's death. In some versions of the epic, he takes his slain brother's queen Mandodari as his second wife, though in others he merely seeks her blessings during his coronation. In the Lanka War, Vibhishana's knowledge about the secrets of Lanka proved invaluable to Rama. Vibhishana freely divulged many secrets that became key to
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