Part - 36

“The moon-god committed adultery with the wife of his Guru (the sage Bṛhaspati), while Nahuṣa mounted a palanquin borne by Brāhmaṇas; and there was none so vile as King Vena, an enemy of established usage as well as of the Vedic injunctions.”

• Vena was born of King Aṅga (a descendant of the celebrated devotee Dhruva), and Sunīthā (a daughter of Mṛtyu, the god of death). Being thus descended from Adharma (the spirit presiding over unrighteousness, the father of Mṛtyu) on the mother’s side, Vena was born with vicious propensities and grew to be the bane of society. Fed up with his atrocities and unable to correct him, King Aṅga left his capital one night and retired to an unknown destination. Seeing the kingdom masterless Bhṛgu and other sages installed Vena on the throne, even though the ministers were opposed to his installation. Power turned his head all the more and arrogantly accounting himself as greater than all he began to insult exalted souls. He went the length of banning the performance of sacrifices and even charity and thus put a stop to all pious acts and the pursuit of religion.

When the sages perceived that the tyranny of the monarch was overstepping all bounds they felt sorry for having installed him on the throne. They, therefore, met and decided to expostulate with the king and persuade him, if possible, to desist from his evil ways. They further resolved to dispose of him in case he did not come round. The sages approached the king accordingly and admonished him but in vain. This enraged the sages, who killed him by the very sound of ‘Hum’.

King Sahasrabāhu, Indra (the lord of celestials) and King Triśaṅku (father of Hariścandra)-which of these was not brought into disrepute by the intoxication of kingly power? Bharata has resorted to a right expedient; for one should leave no trace of one’s enemy or debt in any case. But he has made one mistake in that he has despised Śrī Rāma (yourself) as forlorn. And he will realize his mistake with vengeance today when he beholds Śrī Rāma’s (your) indignant face on the battlefield." Even as he said so he forgot his love of propriety and the tree of his bellicose spirit burst into flowers in the shape of horripilation. Adoring the Lord’s feet and placing their dust on his head he spoke, revealing his own real and natural might: “Pray do not take offence, my lord, if I tell you that Bharata has provoked me not a little. After all how long shall I endure this and restrain my passion when my lord (yourself) is with me and the bow in my hand?”

• Triśaṅku, son of Trayyāruṇi, was a king of Ayodhyā. He wanted to perform a sacrifice whereby he could bodily ascend to heaven. His priest Vasiṣṭha, however, refused to conduct such a sacrifice, which he said was unauthorized and futile. Vasiṣṭha’s sons too declined on the same grounds. But Triśaṅku turned a deaf ear to their remonstrances. This enraged Vasiṣṭha’s sons, who cursed him that he should fall in the social scale and be accounted a pariah. The king was thus converted into a Cāṇḍāla and was accordingly forsaken by his kinsmen, ministers and subjects too. Much agitated at heart over this, the ex-king now approached the sage Viśvāmitra, who comforted him; and asking his sons to invite other sages he conducted the sacrifice. Vasiṣṭha’s sons, however, ruled that at a sacrifice commenced by a pariah and conducted by a nonBrāhmaṇa priest (for such was Viśvāmitra till then) no gods would appear. The gods respected this ruling and accordingly no god appeared to accept the offerings. By dint of his own penance Viśvāmitra sent Triśaṅku to heaven; but the gods hurled him down. Exasperated at this Viśvāmitra proceeded to create another heaven and began to shape new heavenly bodies. The gods were dismayed at this and sought a conference with Viśvāmitra. It was ultimately decided by mutual agreement that Viśvāmitra should abandon his plan to create a new heaven and Triśaṅku should remain hanging in the air. He is still seen in the form of a triple luminary in the heavens. The saliva that dropped from his mouth forms the river Karmanāśā, which flows between Vārāṇasī and Bihar and the water of which is considered as ever polluted.