Story of Viswamitra becoming a Brahmarshi(Brahma Rishi)

                       Once Viswamitra who was a Rajarshi (a king who has become self realized) grew envious of Vashista who was a Brahmarshi (a sage who is enlightened and self realized) and decided to become a brahmarshi himself. He reasoned that if he also turned into a brahmarshi, he would become more respectable and sages like Vashista would treat him as an equal. He set off to a forest and started to perform deep penance. For a long time he performed his penance without interruption from the outside world. He grew content with each passing day that he was nearing his goal and would anyday seize the honor he so craved for.

   
               
                       Then one day a beautiful celestial maiden Menaka appeared near the hut where Viswamitra was undergoing his daily austerities. She had come to that place to take bath in the nearby lake. Viswamitra accidentally looked at her while she was taking bath in the water. She was scantily clad and had a beautiful smile on her face. She had a voluptuous body covered in paste of sandalwood and her hair is deliciously loosened spreading the aroma of  beautiful flowers. The rishi immediately lost his senses and became a slave to the fire that raged within his loins. He overcame with a mad desire to possess her. He approached her and coaxed her to visit him at his hut. Enticed by her beauty and inundated by passion, he spent ten thousand years in her company before realizing his mistake. Once he started growing weary of the conjugal life they were leading, the rishi started thinking. He quickly saw the plot laid down by the gods of the heaven in sending Menaka to lure him into her trap. He lamented to himself that he had not only wasted a ten thousand years but also sacrified his earned yogic powers to the fire of his lust for Menaka. He resolved to become an ascetic from then. So leaving Menaka behind to her fate, he made his way towards the Himalayas to renew his austerities.



                       The gods of heaven headed by Indra approached Brahma and asked him to grant Viswamitra's wish so that he would halt his penance. Brahma agreed and appeared in front of Viswamitra. When he asked the rishi what was it that he wished for, the rished unabashedly declared that all he wanted was to become a Brahmarshi and was willing to do anything for it. Brahma shaking his head slightly told him that he was not ready to become a brahmarshi because he had not gained complete control of his senses. He told the rishi to perform an even severe penance in order to reach his goal and vanished from the spot. Disappointed but not dejected, the rishi set himself up for a thousand year penance feeding himself only on air. Indra, the king of the gods, got visibly shaken by the intensity of the maharshi's yagna. He made an other scheme to cause hindrance to the penance and approached beautiful damsel of heaven, Ramba. When he approached her, she was sitting by herself in a peaceful garden of the heaven and arranging flowers in her hair. She was looking at her own reflection in a hand mirror and was singing to herself in a very pleasant voice. Upon hearing Indra's order that she lure and distract Viswamitra, she started shaking in fear. She dropped her mirror to the floor and it shattered. She rejected his request saying that the rishi had a bad temper and trying to distract him would surely incur his wrath. She couldn't risk being cursed by a great rishi like Viswamitra. Indra assured her not to fear the rishi. He told her that she would not be alone in the Himalayas with the rishi because he himself would reach there as a kokila bird. There would also be Manmadha in disguise helping her win over the affections of the rishi. Thus assured, Ramba agreed to take part in the wicked scheme of Indra.

 

                     Ramba appeared in front of Viswamitra in all her glory. She was truly a very beautiful woman with a lovely visage and a curvaceous body. Viswamitra who could appreciate beauty started falling for her. A throbbing pain started in his chest and he wanted to possess her. He approached her in a dance like gait and slowly took her in his arms. But this time he checked himself in time. Before he could take any further action, he realized this could be a ploy by the ever cunning gods. The gods are always interested in causing hindrance to his penance. Seeing through the facade of Ramba's act, Viswamitra became furious. He pushed her away from him and cursed her saying that she would turn into a statue and either remain in that form for a thousand years or until rishi Vashista arrived and released her. So her worst fears came true and she immediately turned into a motionless statue. Indra and manmadha watched the whole exchange between them and vanished from the spot in fear. They feared that the rishi would curse them too should he get to know of their presence on the scene. Later Viswamitra got mad at himself for losing control over his senses and getting angry at Ramba. Through his haste and thoughtless action, he had lost the spiritual power he had spent years working towards.


                So he again resolved to restart his penance and with a stricter control over his senses this time. After thousand years had passed, he wanted to cut himself some fruit and eat. But before he began to chew, Indra appeared in front of him in the form of a brahmin. He begged Viswamitra for alms. Without the slightest tinge of regret or anger, the rishi gave away what was in his hand and resumed his penance, The earth started getting over heated due to his intensity. Smoke started coming from his head. The gods went back to Brahma and requested him to confer the title of Brahmarshi onto Viswamitra this time. And as they requested, Brahma conferred the title and Vashista agreed to respect and value  the title for Viswamitra.


            Thus Viswamitra had won the title of  Brahmarshi with much effort and lots of hurdles strewn across his path by none other than the gods of heaven.