Vasishtha

Vasishtha in the Rigveda

The hymns of the Rigveda’s seventh book are ascribed to Vasishtha, with his sons as seers of parts of two hymns (note in Griffith’s translation). Hymn 7.18 praises Indra, who helped Sudas, king of the Tritsus, to victory over his enemies by the river Parushni (today’s Ravi); according to Griffith’s note, Vasishtha is the seer of this hymn and the chief priest who went with that expedition.

Hymn 7.33 is a song in praise of Vasishtha and his family. It says that in the battle of the ten kings Indra protected Sudas through the prayers of the Vasishthas (7.33.3, 5). Later verses of the same hymn (7.33.10-13) speak of his birth: he is the son of Mitra and Varuna, born of their love for Urvashi.

Guru of the Ikshvaku line

The Vishnu Purana (4.2) calls Vasishtha the family priest of the Ikshvaku line. In the Valmiki Ramayana King Dasharatha tells Janaka that Vasishtha is the chief priest of the Ikshvaku house, and Vasishtha then recites Rama’s lineage at the wedding (Bala Kanda, sarga 70). When Vishvamitra came to ask for Rama to guard his yajna and Dasharatha hesitated, it was Vasishtha who advised him to keep his word and send Rama (Bala Kanda, sarga 21). Before the coronation, Dasharatha sent him to have Rama and Sita keep the fast of the night before (Ayodhya Kanda, sarga 5).

The cow Nandini and Vishvamitra

In the Valmiki Ramayana (Bala Kanda, sargas 51-56) Shatananda tells Rama this story. King Vishvamitra came with his army to Vasishtha’s hermitage. Vasishtha’s wish-giving cow Shabala fed the whole army. The king asked for Shabala in exchange for a hundred thousand cows; when Vasishtha refused, the king began to take her by force. An army brought forth by Shabala routed the king’s troops, and with his staff Vasishtha stilled all of Vishvamitra’s weapons, even the Brahmastra. Vishvamitra then said that a warrior’s strength is worth nothing and true strength lies in tapas, and he went away to do tapas to win the status of a brahmin.

The Mahabharata (Adi Parva, Chaitraratha sub-parva) tells the same story; there the cow is called Nandini. According to the Mahabharata (Adi Parva 99) Nandini was the daughter of Surabhi, Daksha’s daughter, by Kashyapa; when the eight Vasus stole her, Vasishtha (also called Apava there) cursed them to be born as men, and of them the Vasu Dyu became Devavrata (Bhishma), son of Ganga and Shantanu.

The feud went further: according to the Mahabharata (Adi Parva, Chaitraratha sub-parva), a curse of Vasishtha’s eldest son Shakti turned the Ikshvaku king Kalmashapada into a rakshasa; at Vishvamitra’s command a rakshasa entered him, and he killed Shakti. In the Vishnu Purana (1.1) too Parashara says his father was killed by a rakshasa sent by Vishvamitra. When Parashara in anger began a rite to destroy the rakshasas, his grandfather Vasishtha stopped him: anger is the passion of fools, and forgiveness is the strength of the righteous (Vishnu Purana 1.1). According to the Ramayana (Bala Kanda, sarga 65), in the end Vasishtha himself acknowledged Vishvamitra as a brahmarshi and made friends with him.

Where the sources differ

• Birth: the Vishnu Purana (1.7) calls him a mind-born son of Brahma; the Rigveda (7.33.11-13) and the Bhagavata (6.18.5-6) make him born of Mitra and Varuna on account of Urvashi. The Vishnu Purana (4.5) and the Bhagavata (9.13.1-6) join the two: after he and King Nimi cursed each other, Vasishtha left his body and was born again of Mitra and Varuna on account of Urvashi. The Mahabharata (Adi Parva 99) calls him the son of Varuna.
• Wife: in the Vishnu Purana (1.7) Urja, daughter of Daksha, who bore him seven sons, Rajas, Gatra, Urdhvabahu and others (1.10); in the Bhagavata (3.24.23) Arundhati, daughter of Kardama. The Bhagavata (4.1.40-41, Tagare’s translation) writes the wife as ‘Urja (Arundhati)’ and gives other names for the seven sons, Chitraketu and the rest.
• The cow’s name: Shabala in the Valmiki Ramayana, Nandini in the Mahabharata. Among scholars, Michael Witzel holds that in the Rigveda Vishvamitra was at first the priest of Sudas and Vasishtha took his place later; Stephanie Jamison finds no evidence in the Rigveda of a feud between the two (Wikipedia).

Frequently asked questions