Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c17.s2.34

v1.c17.s2.34

The King Vishvamitra, defeated and disgraced by this powerful priest, "like a serpent with his teeth broken, like the sun robbed by the eclipse of its splendour, was filled with perturbation. Deprived of his sons and array, stripped of his pride and confidence, he was left without resource as a bird bereft of his wings." He abandoned his kingdom to his son, and like all Hindu princes in distress, determined, by penitential rites and austerities, "to obtain Brahmanhood." He took up his abode at the sacred Pushkar, living on fruits and roots, and fixing his mind, said, "I will become a Brahman." By these penances he attained such spiritual power that he was enabled to usurp the Brahman’s office. The theocrats caution Vishvamitra, thus determined to become a Brahman by austerity, that "the divine books are to be observed with care only by those acquainted with their evidence; nor does it become thee (Vishvamitra) to subvert the order of things established by the ancients." The history of his wanderings, austerities, and the temptations thrown in his way is related. The celestial fair were commissioned to break in upon his meditations. The mother of love herself descended; while Indra, joining the cause of the Brahmans, took the shape of the kokila, and added the melody of his notes to the allurements of Rambha, and the perfumed zephyrs which assailed the royal saint in the wilderness. He was proof against all temptation, and condemned the fair to become a pillar of stone. He persevered "till every passion was subdued," till "not a tincture of sin appeared in him," and gave such alarm to the whole priesthood, that they dreaded lest his excessive sanctity should be fatal to them: they feared "mankind would become atheists." "The gods and Brahma at their head were obliged to grant his desire of Brahmanhood; and Vashishtha, conciliated by the gods, acquiesced in their wish, and formed a friendship with Vishvamitra" [Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, Part i. (1858), 75 ff.].