A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2129

c5.2129

Viswāmitra’s relationship to Jamad-agni naturally places him in a prominent position in the Rāmāyana. Here the old animosity between him and Vasishtha again appears. He as a king paid a visit to Vasishtha’s hermitage, and was most hospitably entertained; but he wished to obtain Vasishtha’s wondrous cow, the Kāma-dhenu, which had furnished all the dainties of the feast. His offers were immense, but were all declined. The cow resisted and broke away when he attempted to take her by force, and when he battled for her, his armies were defeated by the hosts summoned up by the cow, and his “hundred sons were reduced to ashes in a moment by the blast of Vasishtha’s mouth.” A long and fierce combat followed between Vasishtha and Viswāmitra, in which the latter was defeated; the Kshatriya had to submit to the humiliation of acknowledging his inferiority to the Brāhman, and he therefore resolved to work out his own elevation to the Brāhmanical order.