Skandapurana 5.166

Sūta said: / Now the wife of Gādhi, from consuming the caru, / also conceived an embryo on that day, through the mantra, auspiciously.

When that virtuous woman became endowed with the embryo, O best of brahmins, / she became devoted to pilgrimages to sacred fords, intent upon vows.

Wherever the sound of the Veda arose, filled with joy there, / her limbs thrilled with horripilation, she constantly listened, / having abandoned all ornaments and pleasures suited to royalty.

Then, O best of brahmins, when the tenth month arrived, / she too gave birth to a son of great lustre, surrounded by brahmin splendour,

known as Viśvāmitra in the three worlds of moving and unmoving beings. / That illustrious one grew daily, surpassing other men,

like the lord of the stars in the sky entering the bright fortnight. / When he grew up and reached youth, O best of brahmins,

capable of ruling, he was installed in the kingdom by Gādhi, / though he was unwilling [to take] his great ancestral kingdom.

Accomplished in the study of the Veda, he recited it constantly, / walking day and night along the path appropriate for a brahmin.

Then, having established his son in the kingdom, the illustrious one became a dweller of the forest / with his wife, devoted to the forest-dwelling stage of life.

Viśvāmitra too, situated in the kingdom, remained devoted to worshipping brahmins, / and lived among all the brahmins, intent upon ritual ablution and prayer-recitation.

Then, at some time, having gone out on a hunt, / he entered a fierce forest filled with various wild beasts.

In that forest he slew boars, sambar deer, elephants, / hyenas, ruru deer, rhinoceroses, and wild buffaloes,

lions, tigers, great serpents, and śarabhas, O best of brahmins. / His mind intent on the hunt, as he roamed in the great forest,

when midday arrived and the sun stood in Taurus, / Viśvāmitra, exhausted with hunger and thirst, O best of brahmins,

reached the holy hermitage of the great-souled Vasiṣṭha. / Vasiṣṭha also, seeing Viśvāmitra, the best of kings,

arrived at his own hermitage, went forward to meet him with joy. / Having given the water offering and the honey-mixture to that king,

he then spoke these words: 'Welcome to you, O lord of the earth! / Speak what duty there is, and I shall certainly do it for you who have come to my home.'

Viśvāmitra said: / Exhausted from hunting, my senses overcome with thirst, / I have arrived here at your hermitage, O lord of sages, in search of a drink.

I have drunk that cool water and my thirst is quenched. / Give me leave, O brahmin, so that I may return to my abode.

Vasiṣṭha said: / The midday hour is fierce; the sun causes extreme distress. / Therefore, having taken food, O king, when the afternoon has set in, / after eating a meal in my hermitage, you may go to your own dwelling.

The king said: / I came hunting with a fourfold army.

My army stands waiting at the entrance to your hermitage. / When servants are hungry, a master who eats food [alone]

goes to a terrible hell and is quickly abandoned by good qualities. / Therefore, O sage, quickly grant me leave to go to my own house.

Vasiṣṭha said: / If your attendants are hungry at the gate, / bring them all here at once; I shall completely satisfy them.

I have a wish-granting cow named Nandinī, exceedingly splendid, / who grants every desired thing through austerity, O best of earthly rulers.

She will fully satisfy your entire army, O best of earthly rulers. / Therefore, let it be brought at once; behold the fruit born of my cow.

Hearing that, the king brought in his entire army. / Having bathed, performed his prayers, and offered libations to the ancestors and gods,

and having had the brahmins chant blessings, he sat upon a throne. / Meanwhile, the cow Nandinī was called.

Summoned by Vasiṣṭha, standing before Viśvāmitra, / she then addressed these words to Vasiṣṭha, the best of seers:

Give the command to me. What shall I do? Instruct me.

Vasiṣṭha said: / At my word, perform all hospitality, beginning with washing the feet, / for royal seer Viśvāmitra, right up to the serving of a meal,

with all kinds of foods to chew, to lick, to suck, and to drink, / so as to bring complete satisfaction to the king together with his army, / and for his horses and elephants with fodder and the like in due order.

Sūta said: / Saying "So be it," she immediately produced all that / which was spoken by that sage, as well as ten thousand attendants.

Then those attendants, taking everything, served the food, / individually to each person with due respect.

In this way, in an instant, the king was fully satisfied by her, / together with his army, his retinue, along with his elephants, camels, horses, and oxen.

Then, having seen that marvel, King Viśvāmitra, / together with his ministers, was filled with astonishment and consulted, O twice-born ones:

Ah, what a wonder! Ah, what a wonder! By whom our entire army, / afflicted with hunger and thirst, has been satisfied all at once!

Therefore, let this excellent cow be taken to my own house. / What will this brahmin do with her, living in the forest without any servants?

Then, summoning Vasiṣṭha, he spoke these words: / Let Nandinī be given to me. What will you do with her?

You dwell alone in the forest, free from dualities and devoid of possessions. / Otherwise, I will give you, for your expenses, O best of sages, / excellent villages, elephants, horses, and other things as you desire.

Vasiṣṭha said: / This is my sacrificial cow, O king, which yields whatever is desired. / A cow is not to be given away, O great king, even an ordinary one belonging to twice-born men;

how much less Nandinī, who bestows all desires! / Hear another supreme statement from the Smṛti, O Indra among kings:

regarding the sale of cows, which was spoken by Manu himself: / "The best of twice-born men who accepts wealth born from the sale of cows

is to be regarded as an outcaste, a seller of his own mother." / Therefore I will not give away that Nandinī, O king,

neither by conciliation, nor by division, nor by gifts of any kind, / nor by force, O great king. Therefore, go to your own abode.

Viśvāmitra said: / Whatever jewel exists on earth belongs to the king, O twice-born one; / all that is royal property—so say those who know about wealth.

Therefore this cow Nandinī, being a jewel, is mine. / I will take her even by force if you do not give her by conciliation.

Having spoken thus to Vasiṣṭha, King Viśvāmitra / then ordered his servants: "Let this Nandinī be seized!"

Then, being dragged away by the troop of servants, / struck with blows, stones, and clubs,

her eyes filled with tears, miserable, battered by blows, / approaching with difficulty, she spoke to Vasiṣṭha, the best of sages:

Have I been given away by you, O best of sages, to this king, / that his men drive me away as if they were my masters?

Vasiṣṭha said: / I do not give you away, O cow, even if it costs my life! / Therefore protect yourself, O cow, through my spiritual power.

Spoken to in this way by the great-souled Vasiṣṭha, / the cow, seized by anger, then let out terrible roars of rage.

And from the sounds of her roars came forth armed men: / Śabaras, Pulindas, and Mlecchas beyond count.

And by them all the servants of King Viśvāmitra were slain. / Then, overcome with rage, King Viśvāmitra,

marshaling his fourfold army in fury, / fought with them, determined to die [or conquer].

Then his soldiers, his elephants, and his horses / were all slain before his eyes by the men born of the cow.

Leaving aside Viśvāmitra, everyone else was struck down. / Seeing that king surrounded by Mlecchas and continuing to fight,

Taking pity, Vasiṣṭha said to Nandinī:
“Protect, O Nandinī, the king surrounded by these mlecchas!

For a king must be protected with diligence, by whose grace this entire world
walks upon the right path and does not turn to an evil way.”

Then, as Nandinī approached to restrain [the mlecchas],
Viśvāmitra raised his sword and prepared to strike [her].

Vasiṣṭha, seeing her about to be struck down at that moment,
paralyzed the king’s arm and his sword.

Then King Viśvāmitra, overcome with shame,
and filled with embarrassment, said to Vasiṣṭha, best of munis:

“Save me, O best of munis, being slain by these most dreadful
mlecchas! Free my arm from this paralysis!

By my own fault my entire vast army has perished;
therefore I will go to my palace—there is no purpose in fighting.

One ill-disciplined, even having attained fortune, learning, and sovereignty,
does not stand long in battle, just as I, proud with intoxication, [could not].”

Sūta said:
Thus addressed by King Viśvāmitra, Vasiṣṭha
freed his arm from the affliction of paralysis.

Having made his hand whole again, he said, smiling:
“Go, O king; you are released by me from the affliction of paralysis.

Never again enter into enmity with brāhmaṇas!”
Thus permitted by him, King Viśvāmitra,

ashamed, went on foot to his palace, O best of dvijas,
reaching the gate of his city in the deep secrecy of nightfall.

There he lamented, his eyes filled with tears:
“Cursed is the strength of kṣatriyas! Cursed is their valour! Cursed is their way of living!

Praiseworthy alone is the strength of a brāhmaṇa, and solely the power of a brāhmaṇa.

I must do this work so that strength born of a brāhmaṇa may be mine;
and giving up my own kingdom, I shall perform great austerity.”
Having made this resolution and established his son,
renowned by the name of Viśvasaha, upon the throne, he went to the penance grove.

Thus ends the one hundred and sixty-seventh chapter, entitled “Description of Viśvāmitra’s Renunciation of the Kingdom,” in the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmya of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] in the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skandapurāṇa.