KING TO ASCETIC - IN PURSUIT OF THE BOON - "HOLY COW !"

KING  TO  ASCETIC  -  IN PURSUIT OF THE BOON  -     “HOLY  COW!””””

                

 

King Kaushika aka Vishwamitra has become a sage to possess  “KAMADHENU” the holy cow to feed his entire subjects.  Kamadhenu belongs to the heaven of Lord Indra.  To possess Kamadhenu one has to relinquish all his material world goodies and must become a sage. King Vishwamitra initially tried the short cuts and that backfired and he later  concluded that there is no other way other than relinquishing his kingdom  and crown and become an ascetic to possess the “Holy Cow”. A determined Vishwamitra tried everything possible to possess the Holy Cow.

The dictionary meaning of “Holy Cow !” is an exclamation of surprise used in United States, England, Australia and Canada. 

 However, in the current context it refers to Hinduism and the holy cow is worshiped in Hindu religion.

A detailed version of Vishwamitra’s pursuit of the boon “Holy Cow” can be described here.

Kaushika was a king who performed many ‘Yagnas’ to satisfy the hunger of his subjects. Then one day he met a Rishi called ‘Vashishta’ who had with him a cow just like Lord  Indra’s Kamadhenu who could fulfill any wish.  Kaushika felt that such a cow should belong to a King so that he could feed his entire kingdom effortlessly.

Vashishtha, however, refused to part with the cow, stating ‘The wish-fulfilling cow only comes to a person who has no desires’.  Kaushika tried to take the cow by force but the cow resisted.  From the udders emerged a band of fierce warriors who repelled every attack of Kaushika’s.

Kaushika realized that only way to possess a Kamadhenu was to become a Rishi like Vasishtha and compel Indra to give him one of the magical cows that grazed in the paradise known as Swarga. For that he had to acquire Siddha. For that he had to do Tapasya.  For that he had to live in the forest like a hermit.  For that he had to relinquish his kingdom and his crown.

A determined Kaushika did it all.  In time, he had enough Siddha to make  nature  do his bidding.

But while Kaushika was busy restraining his senses and gathering Sidha, his family was left neglected.  No longer in the palace, they had to fend for themselves.  They found it difficult to find food. They would have starved had it not been for the generosity of a man called Trishanku.

A grateful Kaushika offered Trishanku a boon.  Trishanku said, ‘I have disrespected my father.  I have forced myself on a married woman.  To satisfy my hunger, I have killed cows and made calves weep.  As a result, I do not have enough merit to enter Swarga.  Use your Sidha to force my entry into that garden of delights located in the realm of stars.’

Using his Sidha, Kaushika caused Trishanku to rise from the land of humans through the sky towards the land of the Devas.  Indra, ruler of Swarga, did not take this kindly.  Trishanku was an unworthy, uninvited guest.  He pushed Trishanku back towards the earth. 

Kaushika had enough Sidha to prevent Trishanku from crashing to the ground, Trishanku got stuck midway, suspended between the earth and sky, between the land of humans and the land of the Devas.  Trishanku with his dream of castles in the air remained in between sky and earth known as Trishanku’s Swarga or Tishanku’s Heaven.

Kaushika continued his austerities determined to gain more Sidha and defeat Indra.  Fearing the worst, Indra sent the Apsara called Maneka to seduce the former king, Maneka danced before the meditating sage and it was only a question of time before he succumbed to her beauty and charms. 

This was considered the greatest seduction game in the history of human race. 

Frustrated at not being able to turn into a Rishi as powerful as Vasishtha, Kaushika resumed his austerities.  Just when he was about to regain his Sidha, a king called Harischandra  who was out hunting disturbed his concentration.  Enraged Kaushika was about to curse the king and his clan when the king offered his entire kingdom as compensation.  Kaushika accepted this compensation as it allowed him to feed his starving family.

To ensure that Harischandra’s compensation as alms or Bhiksha or as Charity or Daana, Kaushika asked the king for Dakshina, a service fee for liberating him from his Karmik obligations of his crime.  Having given away his entire kingdom, Harischandra realized that he has nothing more to offer.  So  he did the unthinkable he sold himself, his wife and his son as slaves  and gave the money thus collected to Kaushika as Dakshina.

Harischandra was bought by a Chandala, the caretaker of a crematorium, who asked him to tend the funeral pyres.  His wife and son were bought by a priest who made them servants in their household.   The son died of snake bite while he was collecting flowers in the garden.  The distraught mother brought her son’s body to the crematorium and found her husband there.  Harischandra, once a king now a Chandala, demanded a fee to cremate his own child for those were the rules of his master.  The former queen had nothing to give but the clothes on her body.  So she offered the same, and he accepted it as fair payment. 

In the light of the funeral pyre, Kaushika saw the naked queen and the stoic king, weeping for their son, but neither blaming nor reproaching anyone for their terrible situation.  From where comes this wisdom that enables you to be at peace even in tragedy, asked Kaushika.  “From my guru, Vashishtha”, said Harischandra.

At the mention of his old rival’s name, Kaushika’s envy reared its ugly head again.  He goaded a man-eating Rakshasa called Kamlashpada to devour Vashishtha’s son Shakti.

Shakti’s son, Parasara, thus orphaned, decided to destroy  all Rakshasas on earth.  But Vashishtha pacified his grandson by explaining to him the laws of Karma: ‘Every action has consequences.  Why blame the instrument of karma for what is determined by our own past actions?   By denying Kaushika the Kamadhenu, because he did not deserve it, I ignited rage in his heart, which led him to goad Kamlashpada to kill your father.  I am as much responsible for Shakti’s death as Kamlashpada and Kaushika are.  I wish I had more sons that Kaushika could kill until he has his fill of anger.’

Hearing this Kaushika realized that it is not Sidha that makes a man a Rishi, it is the ability to care for others.  To care for others, we have to first see them, understand them truly.  Vashishtha had seen Kaushika in a way that Kaushika had not seen himself.  And Kaushika had failed to see Vashishtha as he truly was.  His gaze was colored by rage.  He realized that Vashishtha was a wise seer and  he a sorcerer at best.

‘The purpose of Yagna and Tapasya is not to increase my wealth and my power.  It is to make me unknot my mind, move from aham to atma, see the world from another’s point of view.  Only then can I be a Rishi,’ Kaushika thought.

With this realization  Kaushika was transformed.  He stopped being Vishwashatru, enemy of the world, and became Vishwamitra, friend of the world.  He no longer wanted to change the world; he wanted to help the world.               

As far as Vishwamitra’s pursuit for ”Holy Cow” is concerned it is not the story of “Sour Grapes and the Fox”  but the realization of aham to atma.  In the world of “FACEBOOK” we have got one more irresistible friend, a likeable universal friend that too in the name of Vishwamitra.

When we discuss Kamadhenu and its dairy rich resources we are prone  to examine Veganism vs Vegetarianism.  A strict no… no.. to animal products is veganism whereas vegetarians enjoy dairy products and eggs.  

I am a part time vegetarian meaning during advent and lent season I don’t eat meat or fish and observes  total vegetarianism.   The lent season which is ongoing now means the forty days starting from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (the day before Easter) excluding Sundays.  The Sundays during the lent season is considered - every Sunday - an Easter. 

I observe fast  twice during a year, once on ‘ASH WEDNESDAY” and the other day being  “GOOD FRIDAY”.

VEGANISM  V/S.  VEGETARIANISM

Vegan is a person who do not eat or use animal products.  A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather.

I cannot think of Veganism because it is difficult for me to avoid dairy products.


You must have seen ads depicting Vegan’s saying no cruelty to animals. 

                   
                

 

 








                 




     

In this scientific era when Joseph Pristley invented that plants and leaves also have  life, one must conclude that God has created  men in his own replica and other living beings for him to use and someitmes make pets.  Vegan, Vegetarian or Non-vegetarian let one choose what is healthy, nourishable and akin to your taste buds and pursue his or her favorite menu to enjoy the food.     Wish you a Happy and Healthy Lifestyle.  
     

Live Life Kingsize !   VIVA LA VIDA - Long Live Life.