Viśvāmitra
Contents4 of 15
  1. Gādhi's Son
  2. The Cow He Could Not Take
  3. A Heaven of His Own Making
  4. The Rākṣasa and Vasiṣṭha's Sons
  5. The Boy at the Sacrificial Post
  6. Menakā
  7. Rambhā
  8. The Brahmarṣi
  9. King Hariścandra
  10. The Seer of the Hymns
  11. The Prince He Asked For
  12. On the Road to the Hermitage
  13. The Weapons and the Sacrifice
  14. The Road to Mithilā
  15. The Teacher He Chose for Rāma

The Rākṣasa and Vasiṣṭha's Sons

The enmity between Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha ran deep, and once both of them wished to be the priest of King Kalmāṣapāda of Ikṣvāku's line. When Vasiṣṭha's eldest son Śakti, struck by the king's whip on a narrow path, cursed the king to become an eater of men, Viśvāmitra was near, unseen, and saw his chance. He ordered a rākṣasa named Kiṃkara, one of the demons who feed on men, to enter the king, and the possessed king killed and ate Śakti. When Śakti was dead, Viśvāmitra sent the rākṣasa against the rest of Vasiṣṭha's sons, and the king ate them all, as a lion eats small deer.

Vasiṣṭha heard that his sons had been killed through Viśvāmitra, and he bore his grief as the great mountain bears the earth. He made up his mind to die. But not even then did that wisest of men think of destroying the line of Kuśika, Viśvāmitra's line.