History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c8.s5.49

c8.s5.49

his wife and the other for her mother, infusing in them qualities suited to a Brahman and a Kṣatriya respectively.¹ These preparations, however, were interchanged with the result that Satyavatī’s mother, i.e., the wife of Gādhi, gave birth to Viśvāmitra or Viśvaratha² naturally inclined towards peace and piety; while Satyavatī herself was blessed with Jamadagni, whose son was the fiery Paraśurāma, who had a warrior’s propensities. This fable, otherwise historically worthless, is important for two reasons. It helps us to determine the historical position of Viśvāmitra, who is one of the most intriguing riddles in ancient Brahmanic tradition. He seems to figure at all times in defiance of chronology from the Ṛgveda down to the Epic period.³ But here we learn definitely that Viśvāmitra of Kānyakubja was contemporary with the Bhārgava Jamadagni, who was afterwards killed by Arjuna Kārtavīrya of the Haihaya clan.⁴ Secondly, the story records the simple fact of king Viśvāmitra’s translation from the Kṣatriya class to Brahmanhood. This change of class was quite natural in early Brahmanic history, but the narrators of the Epics and the Purāṇas were obliged to invent this monstrous fiction of the interchange of caru to explain it during a priest-ridden age, when such a “promotion” could hardly happen. But how this was actually brought about is again the subject of a fanciful legend.¹ Having ascended the throne of Kānyakubja, king Viśvāmitra is said to have gone out ahunting one day in the vicinity of the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha. There he seized the Cow of Plenty named Nandini,² but the sage having created an army of uncivilised tribes, such as Pahlavas, Draviḍas, Savaras, Kirātas, etc., routed the forces of Viśvāmitra and got back the cow. Mortified at this defeat by “Brahman prowess” (brahma teja), Viśvāmitra abandoned his kingship,³ and after practising severe penances successively earned the titles of Rājarṣi, Maharṣi and Brahmarṣi.⁴