Sage Vasishta stand exemplary for the word “Vishista” if one knows his benevolent attitude and his psychological ability to conquer the biggest enemy of human nature i.e., anger. In his account, he has many credentials in terms of following righteous path and also guiding many stalwarts of Hindu Mythology to the path of righteousness and spiritual progress. Sage Vasishta was a Brahmarshi from the times immemorial and was always assigned the cadre of Brahma in any Yagic procession because of his learnedness and righteous conduct. Sage Vasishta is believed to be one of the mind-born sons of Lord Brahma but at the same time it is believed that he was born as a son of Lord Mithra in a pot whom Urvashi brought on to Earth and was raised as a son of King Pururava and Urvashi. Once there was King/Emperor by name Nimi who was the father to Manu. King Nimi was a righteous king and also a sage by practice and was capable enough to curse. He once resolved to perform Yagna and requested Sage Vasishta to be a part of it. At his request, Sage Vasishta said to him that he is obliged to fulfill the wish of Lord Indra where he wanted to perform a Yagna. After that event, he would be glad to assist the king. King Nimi did not respond to it and returned back to his kingdom. Meanwhile, Sage Vasishta went to Swargaloka and made Indra perform the Yagna and afterwards he went to King Nimi directly without passing back to his ashram. At that time, Nimi was in deep sleep and was not aware of Sage’s arrival. The holy sage waited for a long time and not being aware of that cursed the king that he would die very soon. The king got aware of the sage’s curse and in response cursed the sage that even he would meet a similar end. The king died immediately but the sage was able to remain in the body because of his Yogic powers but he left his body by will as he wanted to respect the curse of the king. He then headed himself to Brahmaloka in the spiritual form and informed Lord Brahma about the whole event. Lord Brahma then advised him to be a part of the pot in which Urvashi carried the sperms of Mithra (Sun God) and Varuna. Hence he was born as a son of Lord Surya and sperm of Varuna got transformed into Sage Agasthya [Refer to article of Sage Agasthya on Samskruti] . Hence it is said that Sage Vasishta is equivalent to Sun God in radiance. Later he went back to his Ashram near Meru Mountain on the banks of River Saraswathi. After his return King Manu visited his ashram and requested him to be the family priest of his dynasty. Sage Vasishta being a true ascetic was not interested in this position but being aware that Lord Narayana is going to take birth in this clan, gladly accepted his request. Since then he served Solar Dynasty. He always took pride in the kings of Solar Dynasty for their righteous conduct and truthfulness. Once so happened that Lord Indra was inquisitive to know who among the kings on Planet Earth was truly truthful at all times. Sage Vasishta answered him that his disciple King Harischandra is the most truthful being on the Earth at that time and claimed that he is wedded to truth. Sage Vishwamithra who was present at the assembly at that time, challenged Vasishta that he would make Harishchandra to become untruthful which has actually lead for the pathetic destiny of King Harishchandra in the hands of Sage Vishwamithra. The spiritual progress of Sage Vishwamithra is intertwined with the actions of Sage Vasishta and he holds the credit of an aggressive Maharishi Vishwamithra turning into a benevolent Brahmarshi like him. There were many instances where Sage Vishwamithra tried his best to defeat Sage Vasishta in terms of spiritual prowess but every time Sage Vasishta was a winner and even it indirectly helped Vishwamithra to realize his blunders and progress spiritually. Sage Vasishta was blessed with 100 sons as a boon from Lord Indra. Among them, Sage Shakti was a prominent one and he was the eldest son of Sage Vasishta. Sage Shakthi was the father of Sage Parashara (father of Veda Vyasa). Once as a part of his daily activities Sage Shakthi was about to dip himself in holy waters of River Saraswathi. At that time, a king by name Kalmashapada was driving his chariot very fast and was passing by. In the Vedic age, it was a righteous conduct that nobody should obstruct the way of a sage, a cow, a pregnant woman, any old person or a weak person. Hence in this scenario, the king was expected to give way to the Sage Shakti instead he crossed the sage’s path. At that time, Sage Vishwamithra was observing the whole scene and through his yogic power entered into the body of the haughty king because of which the king disrespected the sage. Sage Shakthi got furious and cursed him that as he possesses a demoniac nature, he should be transformed into a demon. Kalmashapada also lost his temper and killed the sage on the spot. Because of the curse, Kalmashapada turned into a demon and started living in the forest. He depended on human beings and animals flesh by killing to fulfill his hunger since then. Once so happened that he was behind a pregnant woman whose name was Adhrushyanti. She was running hither and thither to protect her life. Sage Vasishta was a passer by and protected this lady from the demon and took her to his hermitage. Adhrushyanti was none other than the wife of Sage Shakti and she gave birth to a beautiful male child who in the course of time became a great sage by name Parashara. Sage Vasishta was his grandfather, mentor and guru. Sage Vasishta and young Parashara were accumulating sticks in the forest one day and they came across king-turned-demon Kalmashapada in the forest. When Parashara enquired about him, Sage Vasishta informed him that he was the killer of his father and because of his father’s curse got turned into a demon. Young Parashara at once lost his temper and was about to destroy the demon. Sage Vasishta stopped him and said that anger will fetch no happiness to anybody and that’s what has happened in his father’s destiny. He said to him that being an ascetic one is not expected to lose patience. Being a sage, one should perform only acts which do well to the humanity. Parashara realized his mistake and took an oath to do so henceforth. There were many legends which stand as strong proofs of benevolence of Sage Vasishta. Once King Ikshwaku visited Sage Vasishta and prayed him to bless Ayodhya with water always. As a fulfillment of his desire, Sage Vasishta made River Sarayu to flow towards Ayodhya and it filled all the wells dug by King Ikshwaku with plenty of water. It is believed that because of the blessing of Sage Vasishta, dipping in River Sarayu will enhance the spiritual progress. King Dilipa who was descendent of Ikshwaku was childless and hence prayed Sage Vasishta for a benevolent progeny. Sage Vasishta advised him to serve the Divine Cow Nandini in his hermitage. The king and the queen obeyed the holy sage because of which they were blessed with desiring progeny. In Sage Vasishta opinion, cows were the most divine beings on this Earth and serving them was equivalent to serving one’s own mother. If we consider the instances or the events of the life of Sage Vishwamithra, Sage Vasishta was his indirect mentor in achieving his ambition to become a Brahmarshi. Accordingly, one legend goes like this. Sage Vishwamithra was always pestering Sage Vasishta to accept his status as Brahmarshi but he never did so because he was aware that Vishwamithra did not conquer his senses yet even though he performed penance for thousands of years. In the same way when he made an abrupt visit to Sage Vasistha’s ashram during the late hours of night to pester him, he overheard a conversation between Sage Vasishta and his wife Devi Arundathi. Arundhathi was pleading Vasishta to accept Sage Vishwamithra as Brahmarshi at least then so that he can stop disturbing them in uneven timings. They already lost their one hundred sons in the conflict of Vishwamithra. Even then he never allowed them to live peacefully. At her plea, Sage Vasishta responded to her that it was a divine will to lose his 100 sons and even it is a divine will for Sage Vishwamithra to became a Brahmarshi but he cannot accept a unqualified person as a Brahmarshi. He was ordained by Lord Brahma to transform Vishwamithra to be a Brahmarshi and at the same time it is his wish that Sage Vishwamithra to become a Brahmarshi. By overhearing this dialogue, Sage Vishwamithra at once felt very ashamed of his ridiculous behavior and requested Sage Vasishta to pardon him. Sage Vasishta happily accepted his apologies. Since then, Sage Vishwamithra focused on his aim and performed severe austerities to raise his spiritual status to be a Brahmarshi.
It is a well-known legend that Sage Vashistha is the one who advised King Dasharatha to send Lord Rama with Vishwamithra when he approached for some assistance from Lord Rama while performing a Yagna willing good for the humanity because Sage Vashistha was wise enough that Lord Rama will be blessed with many divine weapons from Sage Vishwamithra which would be added to the valor of Lord Rama in the course of time when Rama would destroy Ravana. According to Valmiki Ramayana, Sage Vashistha was the spiritual enlightener for Lord Rama when he developed an attitude of disinterestedness (Bhava of Vairagya) towards worldly affairs. Lord Rama after he was well-versed with all kinds of weaponry and Yogic sutras was destined to be crowned as a king of Ayodhya. Before that he went on a visit to know the life of his people by travelling length and breadth of the country. In this process, he came across the worldly sufferings of the human beings which developed Vairagya bhava in him and was inclined to leave the life of materialistic world. King Dasharatha was worried about him and sorted the help of Sage Vasishta who was their family priest. Sage Vasishta understood the concern and its seriousness and at once summoned Royal Prince Rama to his chamber. When Rama made his presence in his chamber, then he realized that Lord Rama was on his way towards spiritual path and enlightened him with many subtle matters of creation. These conversations were recorded as Yoga Vasishta or Vasishta Sudha which attained the position of standard truths of lead a fulfilled life in this materialistic world. The precepts of this great book say that Soul is not affected by any issues of worldly life. It is only a spectator of worldly affairs. If any human being wills to transcend the Karma, it is possible only by performing Karma and fulfilling the desires which gets raised by Karma but not by avoiding Karma. If one suppresses the Karmic desires of the world, then they will grow strong and make the soul to take the form of materialistic body based on its spiritual status and it would hard to come of this vicious circle. Human beings while performing their karmas should strive to be unaffected by the results of the action. The results should be left to the judgment of Almighty. Spiritual growth has to go parallel with the materialistic growth. Sage Vasishta also authored many sacred hymns in Rig-Veda. His ideology of righteous path is recorded under a heading as “Vasishta Smriti”. Sage Vasishta was a true ascetic who conquered anger and greed. He was a stalwart example of absolute patience and never spared his penance power for the destruction of humanity. This holy sage is believed to be alive even today and praying for the rule of law on Planet Earth for the peacefulness and tranquility to prevail in its true form. Sage Vasishta is a true blessing for the whole humanity. (this article is credited to Smt. Rama chinta kunta)
