The Story of Vishwamitra

In lunar dynasty,was a king kausik also known as Visvamitra.Kng posesed extra ordinary qalities and ruled the kingdom well once the king went on a tour of his kindom with a large army . As he was passing a forest he came across the hermitage of Sage Vaisistha .The sage offered him a grand reception and requsted him to be his guest.The king declined offer as the sage would not have been able to feed the large army.Sage told the king not to worry and informed him that the Sage had wishfulfilling cow (kamadehnu)sabala .The Sage called out the divine cow . kamadehnu was Born during churnuing of the ocean and was presented to Sage Vaisitha .Vasistha told the cow to make an elborte feast for the king's army and an elobrate feast appeared . The king and his army engoyed the feast .

The king was imperessed by the cow's poweress and was convinced that the cow would be more useful to a king than a sage . he further added anything precious belonged to the king and put his stake on sabala Visvamitra politely declined to give sabala to the king . The king became angry and ordered his soldiers to capture sabala . Captured by the kings men sabala broke down on the thought of being taken away from her father like sage . She ran back to the sage wnting to know the reason as to why he had abondened her . Vasistha told her that he not abondened her and told her to make army of her own . Sabala made her own army and defeated the king .

Visvamitra the went into forest and performed 12 years of penance . Lord siva was pleased with the penance and gave him all the astras . Visvamitra went to Vaisistha and sent all Astras towards him Vasistha absorbed all the astras using his Brmhadanda . Visvamitra then went south .he did a lot of tapas to get the title of rajya rsi . During this time Trisanku (a king ) came to Visvamitra asked him to send Trisanku to heaven in his body form .the devas denied trisanku entry in to the heavens .Annoyed at this act Visvamitra used all his powers to create a hevean for Trisanku.

Visvamitra then did a lot of penance to become a maharsi and then a Brmharsi . Visvamitra ,While he was performing penance ,was attracted to aphsara sent by Indra to distract him. Visvamitra spent 10 years with her and gave birth to sankuntala After he became a Maharsi Indra sent another apsara Rambha ,but Vissvamitra cursed her to became a stone for 1000 years . then after a lot of tapas he became a brmharsi a person with total control over anger .He then became elgible for keeping Sabala but he no more wished to keep her .

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The Story of Valmiki

In ancient India there lived a robber whose name we do not know, because, as you will see, he got a new one. It is by this new name that he got famous. Young and strong, he could easily attack and overcome travelers going by lonely roads. Then he would take their money and all the valuables they had with them. Many were his victims. This man knew better, but he thought it was the only way he could make his livelihood. Moreover, his father, mother and wife were there at home, depending on him.

One day the robber caught hold of a traveler who had nothing. Angry, he asked him how he could wander around like that. "I am the sage Narada," said he. "I travel freely even between heaven and earth. I am one of the 'immortals'." As we said, the robber had a sense of right and wrong, and he felt some respect for the sage.

"Don't you know it is a great sin to rob and kill human beings?" asked Narada; "Why do you do all this?"

"I want to support my family," the robber replied.

"All right," said Narada, "you tie me up here securely and then go ask your family if they will share in your sin, the way they share your money."

The robber agreed, tied Narada to a tree, and went to find his father.

"Do you know how I support you?" he asked.

"No, I have always wondered," the father replied.

"I am a highwayman -- I rob -- and sometimes I have to kill."

"What! Horrible!" the father exclaimed, "Get away from me."

"So will you not share in my guilt, in the eyes of God?"

"No! Why should I?" answered his father.

In the same way he told his mother and his wife, asking if they would share in his sin, help to bear his karma. The mother said, "Why should I? I never stole anything in my life!" And his wife said, "Of course not! It is your duty to support me."

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The robber's eyes were opened. Going back to the tree where Narada was tied, he told the sage what had happened. "Now I see that each of us travels a lonely road, a single track in life. Even my nearest and dearest, who live by my plunder, do not agree to share in my guilt! Tell me, O sage, what can I do?"

"Give up your life-style, foolish one. The 'love' of your loved ones is fair-weather love: it lasts while riches last, and leaves when riches leave. Learn to love and worship Him who is the only one who stands by us, in our good and in our evil."

Narada taught the young man to worship and told him to go into the forest. He went into solitude and began to practice meditation and prayer. He kept this up for many years, living at first on fruits and roots. Eventually he became totally absorbed in meditation and forgot himself, losing awareness of his body. As a result, ants even came and made ant-hills around him, heaped up high, so that he looked like a mountain of ants.

After many years a divine voice came to him. "Arise, O Sage." it said. "Sage?" he exclaimed; "I am a robber."

"No more robber," the voice went on, "you are a purified soul. Your guilt has been erased; you have had a new birth, and you now have a new name: Valmiki -- meaning, he that was born in an ant-hill."

One day when he went to the river Ganges to take his bath, Valmiki saw a pair of doves whirling around and around and kissing each other. They were about to make a nest. Valmiki felt happy at the sight. The next moment an arrow whizzed past his ear and brought down the male dove. Hunters were near. The female dove went on whirling around her dying companion with cries of shock and anguish. Valmiki, now enlightened, filled with compassion, could at once feel her distress. He turned around and saw the hunter.

"You are a wretch" he cried, "without an ounce of mercy! Your slaying hand would not stop even for love!"

Valmiki was surprised. The words that had come from his mouth were strange. "I have never spoken in this way before," he thought to himself. Then he heard the divine voice again: "Do not be alarmed. What is coming out of your mouth is poetry; your true nature is that of a poet. Write now the life of Lord Rama in poetry for the benefit of the world." When the former robber discovered what was hidden within him, he began to write the book called Ramayana.

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