Rishi Vishwamitra
Rishi Vishwamitra is considered to be one of the most revered rishis (sages) of the ancient India. As per the holy Puranas, there have been only 24 Rishis in India who have the Gayatri Mantra. It is believed that Sage Vishwamitra is the first saint of the 24 saints, and Sage Yajnavalkya the last. He also claims the distinction of being the author of the majority portion of the Mandala 3 of the Rig-Veda. The story of Vishwamitra is narrated in the Balakanda of Valmiki Ramayana. The Mahabharata adds that Vishvamitra's relationship with Menaka resulted in a daughter, Shakuntala whose story is narrated in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata. Vishwamitra was a king in ancient India, also called Kaushika ("the descendant of Kusha"). He was a valiant warrior and the great-grandson of a great king named Kusha. The Valmiki Ramayana, prose 51 of Bala Kanda, starts the legend of Vishwamitra thus, "There was a king named Kusha (not to be confused with Kusha, son of Rama), a brainchild of Prajapati (Brahma), and Kusha's son was the powerful and verily righteous Kushanaabha. One who is highly renowned by the name Gaadhi was the son of Kushanaabha, and Gaadhi's son is this great-saint of great resplendence, Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra ruled the earth, and this great-resplendent king ruled the kingdom for many thousands of years." His story also appears in various Puranas, however they show variations from the Ramayana. The Vishnu Purana and Harivamsha chapter 27 (dynasty of Amaavasu) of Mahabharatha narrates the birth of Vishwamitra. According to Vishnu Purana, kushika married a damsel belonging to Puru-kutsa (later called as Shatamarshana lineage - descendents of Ikshvaku king Trasadasyu) dynasty and had a son by name Gadhi who had a daughter named Satyavati(not to be confused with Satyavati of Mahabharata). Satyavati was married to an old Brahman known as Richika who was foremost among the race of Bhrigu. Richika desired a son having the qualities of a Brahman, 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 Vishwamitra, the son of a Kshatriya Gadhi with the qualities of a Brahman; and Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni, the father of Parasurama, a Brahman with qualities of a Kshatriya.
Kaushika seeks to attain the same spiritual power as Vasishta, to become his equal, a brahmarishi. He undertakes a fierce penance for one thousand years, after which Brahma names him a Rajarishi, or royal sage. After another long penance of ten thousand years, Brahma names him a rishi, thus leaving his royal lineage permanently. At this point, Indra, the king of Swarga attempts to test the tapasvin by sending Menaka, an apsara to seduce him. Kaushik then lives with Menaka for 10 years. They have a baby girl Shakuntala. Kaushik becomes angry as Menaka had destroyed his years of meditation and thus he cursed her that she won't possess her beauty, of which she was proud, in next birth. And hence in the next birth she became a monkey and mother of Hanuman, Anjani. Kaushika now goes to the banks of the river Kaushiki, which is the spirit of his own sister. After many thousands of years of penance, Brahma names him maharishi, but also tells him that he hasn't become a jitendriya yet, lacking control over his passions. This is brought to light to Kaushika when he angrily curses Rambha, an apsara sent by Indra to seduce Kaushika again, to become a stone for a thousand years. After cursing Rambha, Kaushika goes to the highest mountain of the Himalayas to perform an even more severe tapasya for over a thousand years. He ceases to eat, and reduces his breathing to 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 a multi-thousand year journey, Kaushika's yogic power is at a peak. At this point, Lord Brahma, at the head of the Devas led by Indra, names Kaushika a brahmarishi, and names him Vishwamitra, or Friend of All for his unlimited compassion. He is also embraced by Vasishta, and their enmity is instantly ended. As a former king, and one over as vast a realm as he had been, Vishwamitra was known to retain a regal and often haughty bearing. He was known for his high temper and often cursed people in his anger, thereby depleting his yogic powers obtained by much penance. People feared his temper and prayed that their actions might not get misconstrued by the touchy sage. However, as a former king, Vishwamitra also possessed great compassion for all beings. Having taken pity on Trishanku, he willingly exhausted all the punya he gained from his tapas, to enable him to ascend to the heavens. Following his attainment of the status of brahmarishi, he was known to use the power of his tapas to help anyone who was in need, whatever the cost to himself
Vedic seer of scientific spirituality, Rishi Vishwamitra, was engrossed in a very special and super experiment those days. For last few years he had completely gone into seclusion. He had almost stopped speaking as well. He would use his voice only for very essential recitation of mantras on only some especially important occasions; for all other needs he would simply make do with gestures and signs. With the warmth and energy of the super-experiment that he was conducting, every bit and particle of the ashram had begun to glow and effuse the same. Maharshi Vishwamitra had spent his entire life in conducting innumerable spiritual experiments of sadhana and tapa. The sixty-two suktas of the third mandal of Rig Veda are the testimonies of these experiments. The tenth mantra of the sixty second sukta of the third mandal of Rig Veda is very renowned Gayatri Mahamantra. With this Gayatri mantra, its seer Vishwamitra, who was a superbly evolved sage with great supernatural powers, and who had a perfect understanding of subtleties of more than a thousand different sadhanas of this mantra, had earned a very wide recognition and fame.
Maharshi Vishwamitra
But to him what was dear was service to society and not fame and recognition. Only because he had completely dedicated himself to activities beneficial for the world, he had heard the name of Vishwamitra (meaning friend of the world). Earlier he used to be the mighty – King Kaushika but since the time he realized the grandeur of spiritual energy and prowess attained by through spiritual disciplines during his association with Brahmarshi Vasishtha, he renounced his kingdom and all his worldly responsibilities and devoted himself to spiritual experiments. Now even Brahmarshi Vasishtha would not tire of singing paeans of his great penance and social service. That is why he had encouraged and persuaded King Dashrath to send Sri Ram and Lakshman in the service of Maharshi Vishwamitra. At that time too Maharshi Vishwamitra was conducting some important experiments, but that several years ago. Now King Dashrath was no more. Sri Ram with his wife Mata Sita and brother Lakshman was living in Chitrakut forest. Brahmarshi Vasishtha was giving protection and guidance to Prince Bharat in Ayodhya.
Here Rishi Vishwamitra had initiated a novel experiment in his famous ashram. Before launching the experiment he had called upon his disciple Jabali, son Madhuchchhanda, and grand son Jeta and Aghamarshan and told them that challenges they were facing now very much more daunting and serious than the earlier ones. The focus was no more on terror perpetrated by the likes of Marich, Subahu and Tadka (demons who had been killed by Ram-Lakshman under the guidance of Vishwamitra earlier) or the protection and security of particular region, but that the existence of the whole world was in danger this time. All the demonic powers were carrying out deadly and destructive experiments everywhere. All of them needed to be defeated together. Not only that to create the right circumstances for ushering in Satyug in future, large-scale changes will have to be brought about in the entire animate and inanimate Nature. This would happen only when kundalini (the dormant vitality) of the entire world got awakened.
“Awakening of world kundalini” – these words amazed and excited not only young Jeta and Aghamashan but also the more matured Maduchchhanda and Jabali. Both of them had intimately associated with Maharshi in all his experiments over a very long time. Maharshi disregarded their wonder and excitement and contributed, “For this we need to agitate, stir up and alter using the power of the sun, kundalini of the earth which exists in the form of geomagnetic flows between its North and South poles. What is essential for this is collecting and harnessing of huge amounts of Sun’s subtle power and then channelizing and transmitting it. This is an extremely difficult task but not impossible. For this purpose, I will use Savitri aspect of this great science of Gayatri.”
“That would mean a coordinated use of the left oriented Brahmastra, Brahmashiras and Pashupat of Gayatri and may be much more than that…!” – This thought arose in minds of Jabali and Madhuchchhanda almost simultaneously. Their thought vibrations touched somewhere the inner consciousness of the Maharshi. He spoke,”You are right. For protection of the entire creation I shall definitely launch this greatest scientific experiment. All the bases for harmonizing inner consciousness with Sun’s consciousness would be created by this only. Savitri is universal. It would cast its influence over the entire world and over all the living beings. This would diminish the Tamsik element and enhance the Sattwic element everywhere in the world. This would result in pleasant changes in the inner beings of all creatures as well as the environment. Destructive powers would be destroyed and creative powers would be reinvigorated.”
“What will we have to do, O Great One?” asked all those present to ascertain their duties. In reply Maharshi said,”You will have to perform your duties with great resolve in these difficult times. Jabali will act as my personal assistant for this tough task. Madhuchchhanda would maintain subtle contact with Brahmarshi Vasishtha who is doing tapa at Ayodhya, with Brahmarshi Atri who is doing tapa at Chitrakut and with Maharshi Agastya who is performing his deep penance at Vedpuri in far south, and would keep providing me with their guidance and indications from time to time. Brahmarshi Vasishtha is currently preparing a group of 100 great sadhaks who would facilitate in the world the descent of the atmosphere of Satyug and Savitri power. Brahmarshi Atri, who is at Chitrakut, has responsibility to make Sri Ram, Sita and Lakshman capable of holding and assimilating the great power of this experiment. The next person in this sequence is Maharshi Agastya who would create several extraordinary and divine weapons using the power generated by Savitri experiment and provide them to Sri Ram at appropriate time. All these activities will be carried out at the same level simultaneously. Though we all will be with each other at the level of consciousness, but due to our involvement in our individual experiments, once in a while this contact may get lost. So Madhuchchhanda will have to be ready to maintain this contact. Jeta and Aghamarshan will support their father in this task. My divine vision tells me that this great sadhana of Savitri would definitely become successful and the circumstances of Satyug would be created and propagated on the earth.”
History is testimony that due to this super-experiment of Savitri, Kingdom of Sri Ram could get established and the rule of Age of Truth could be ushered in
Vedic seer of scientific spirituality, Rishi Vishwamitra, was engrossed in a very special and super experiment those days. For last few years he had completely gone into seclusion. He had almost stopped speaking as well. He would use his voice only for very essential recitation of mantras on only some especially important occasions; for all other needs he would simply make do with gestures and signs. With the warmth and energy of the super-experiment that he was conducting, every bit and particle of the ashram had begun to glow and effuse the same. Maharshi Vishwamitra had spent his entire life in conducting innumerable spiritual experiments of sadhana and tapa. The sixty-two suktas of the third mandal of Rig Veda are the testimonies of these experiments. The tenth mantra of the sixty second sukta of the third mandal of Rig Veda is very renowned Gayatri Mahamantra. With this Gayatri mantra, its seer Vishwamitra, who was a superbly evolved sage with great supernatural powers, and who had a perfect understanding of subtleties of more than a thousand different sadhanas of this mantra, had earned a very wide recognition and fame.
Maharshi Vishwamitra
But to him what was dear was service to society and not fame and recognition. Only because he had completely dedicated himself to activities beneficial for the world, he had heard the name of Vishwamitra (meaning friend of the world). Earlier he used to be the mighty – King Kaushika but since the time he realized the grandeur of spiritual energy and prowess attained by through spiritual disciplines during his association with Brahmarshi Vasishtha, he renounced his kingdom and all his worldly responsibilities and devoted himself to spiritual experiments. Now even Brahmarshi Vasishtha would not tire of singing paeans of his great penance and social service. That is why he had encouraged and persuaded King Dashrath to send Sri Ram and Lakshman in the service of Maharshi Vishwamitra. At that time too Maharshi Vishwamitra was conducting some important experiments, but that several years ago. Now King Dashrath was no more. Sri Ram with his wife Mata Sita and brother Lakshman was living in Chitrakut forest. Brahmarshi Vasishtha was giving protection and guidance to Prince Bharat in Ayodhya.
Here Rishi Vishwamitra had initiated a novel experiment in his famous ashram. Before launching the experiment he had called upon his disciple Jabali, son Madhuchchhanda, and grand son Jeta and Aghamarshan and told them that challenges they were facing now very much more daunting and serious than the earlier ones. The focus was no more on terror perpetrated by the likes of Marich, Subahu and Tadka (demons who had been killed by Ram-Lakshman under the guidance of Vishwamitra earlier) or the protection and security of particular region, but that the existence of the whole world was in danger this time. All the demonic powers were carrying out deadly and destructive experiments everywhere. All of them needed to be defeated together. Not only that to create the right circumstances for ushering in Satyug in future, large-scale changes will have to be brought about in the entire animate and inanimate Nature. This would happen only when kundalini (the dormant vitality) of the entire world got awakened.
“Awakening of world kundalini” – these words amazed and excited not only young Jeta and Aghamashan but also the more matured Maduchchhanda and Jabali. Both of them had intimately associated with Maharshi in all his experiments over a very long time. Maharshi disregarded their wonder and excitement and contributed, “For this we need to agitate, stir up and alter using the power of the sun, kundalini of the earth which exists in the form of geomagnetic flows between its North and South poles. What is essential for this is collecting and harnessing of huge amounts of Sun’s subtle power and then channelizing and transmitting it. This is an extremely difficult task but not impossible. For this purpose, I will use Savitri aspect of this great science of Gayatri.”
“That would mean a coordinated use of the left oriented Brahmastra, Brahmashiras and Pashupat of Gayatri and may be much more than that…!” – This thought arose in minds of Jabali and Madhuchchhanda almost simultaneously. Their thought vibrations touched somewhere the inner consciousness of the Maharshi. He spoke,”You are right. For protection of the entire creation I shall definitely launch this greatest scientific experiment. All the bases for harmonizing inner consciousness with Sun’s consciousness would be created by this only. Savitri is universal. It would cast its influence over the entire world and over all the living beings. This would diminish the Tamsik element and enhance the Sattwic element everywhere in the world. This would result in pleasant changes in the inner beings of all creatures as well as the environment. Destructive powers would be destroyed and creative powers would be reinvigorated.”
“What will we have to do, O Great One?” asked all those present to ascertain their duties. In reply Maharshi said,”You will have to perform your duties with great resolve in these difficult times. Jabali will act as my personal assistant for this tough task. Madhuchchhanda would maintain subtle contact with Brahmarshi Vasishtha who is doing tapa at Ayodhya, with Brahmarshi Atri who is doing tapa at Chitrakut and with Maharshi Agastya who is performing his deep penance at Vedpuri in far south, and would keep providing me with their guidance and indications from time to time. Brahmarshi Vasishtha is currently preparing a group of 100 great sadhaks who would facilitate in the world the descent of the atmosphere of Satyug and Savitri power. Brahmarshi Atri, who is at Chitrakut, has responsibility to make Sri Ram, Sita and Lakshman capable of holding and assimilating the great power of this experiment. The next person in this sequence is Maharshi Agastya who would create several extraordinary and divine weapons using the power generated by Savitri experiment and provide them to Sri Ram at appropriate time. All these activities will be carried out at the same level simultaneously. Though we all will be with each other at the level of consciousness, but due to our involvement in our individual experiments, once in a while this contact may get lost. So Madhuchchhanda will have to be ready to maintain this contact. Jeta and Aghamarshan will support their father in this task. My divine vision tells me that this great sadhana of Savitri would definitely become successful and the circumstances of Satyug would be created and propagated on the earth.”
History is testimony that due to this super-experiment of Savitri, Kingdom of Sri Ram could get established and the rule of Age of Truth could be ushered in
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