Vasishṭha and Nimi Carita (Matsya Purāṇa)

Chapter 200 of the Matsya Mahā Purāṇa tells how the ṛshi Vasishṭha and King Nimi quarrelled over a yajña (fire ritual). Each cursed the other to become videha (without a body). Brahmā then gave Nimi a home in the eyelids of all beings, which is the origin of nimisha, the blink of the eye. Vasishṭha was born again as a son of Mitra and Varuṇa. The same birth also gave Agastya. The chapter then lists the Parāśara gotra, which comes from Vasishṭha’s line.

Nimi’s yajña

Bhagavān Matsya-Nārāyaṇa tells this account to Manu, as part of his teaching on gotras and pravaras (the lines of ṛshi ancestors).

Vasishṭha was the purohita (family priest) of King Nimi. Nimi was a royal ṛshi who loved the yajña and had held many rites under Vasishṭha’s guidance. After a long series of great yajñas, Vasishṭha was truly tired. He had put all his strength into doing the rites with full saṃskāras (correct ceremony), and he needed rest.

Nimi came to Vasishṭha and said: “Revered Vasishṭha, I plan another great yajña. Come at once and perform it for me.”

Vasishṭha answered: “O king, wait a little while. I am truly tired from performing your many yajñas with complete care and attention. When I have rested, I will come and perform it for you.”

Nimi would not wait. He gave his reason:

“Who waits to do a work of dharma when death is near? Yama has no love or hatred for me. He feels nothing of the kind. When the prāṇa’s (life-breath’s) allotted share of karma runs out, he takes the being away by force. Tomorrow’s work must be done today; the afternoon’s work in the morning. For the person who is busy with fields, markets and houses, which are not dharma, death comes like a wolf and takes him. Death has no favourites: when the prāṇa’s karma-quota is spent, it departs. You yourself know how uncertain the prāṇa is. It is astonishing that it stays even for a single moment. In matters of learning and earning wealth, treat the body as if it will last for ever. In matters of dharma, treat the body as if it will not last the day. Therefore: I am in debt to the devas through yajña-duties not yet done. I have gathered everything needed. If you will not perform the yajña now, I will find another ṛtvik (priest).”

The mutual curse

Vasishṭha, a brahmarshi of the highest rank, was stung by Nimi’s words. He was angry, and the anger came from his tiredness and his pride. He cursed Nimi:

“You, who know dharma and yet put obstacles in the way of one who is tired — you shall become videha (the bodiless one — you shall die).”

Nimi answered at once:

“You, who are a brāhmaṇa and yet, being tired, block a work of dharma and refuse to wait while I find another priest — YOU shall also become videha.”

At that moment both became videha. Their jīvas (living selves) left their bodies.

Before Brahmā: what each was given

The bodiless jīvas of Vasishṭha and Nimi went to Brahmā. He saw them and spoke.

To Nimi’s jīva

“O Nimi! From this moment I give you the eyelids of all beings as your home. You shall live there. Because you live there, beings will have the ‘nimisha’ (the blink) and the ‘jalpāṭu’ (the momentary pause).”

The nimiśa is explained as follows: nimiśa means “Nimi lives here” (ni = here, miśa = Nimi). Nimi’s jīva rests (śayane) in the eyelid, and that moment of rest is the nimisha. From that moment, every time a living being blinked, closing and opening its eyes, it was Nimi’s jīva living in the home it had been given, the eyelid.

To Vasishṭha’s jīva

“O Vasishṭha! You shall be born again as the son of Mitra and Varuṇa. In that birth also you shall carry the name Vasishṭha. And in that birth you will remember the two earlier births.”

The birth of Vasishṭha and Agastya from the kalaśa

At that very time the devas Mitra and Varuṇa were doing strict tapas (austerity) at Badarīkāśrama. Their niyamas (observances) were perfect and did not change in any season.

It was spring. All the trees were in flower, and a soft, sweet-scented wind moved through the grove. In this place the very beautiful Urvaśī, the most famous of the apsarases, came through the forest gathering flowers. She wore the thinnest of garments.

Mitra and Varuṇa, deep in tapas, saw her. For all their great self-control, the sight of the perfect apsarā in that scented spring hour made their śukra (vital essence) fall onto the deer-skin seat on which they sat.

Both were ashamed, because a tapasvin’s (one who keeps tapas) release of vital essence against his will is counted a great loss and a pāpa (sin). They spoke together about what to do. They took the śukra and placed it in a beautiful kalaśa (sacred pitcher) full of water.

From that kalaśa two beings of great tejas (radiance) were born at the same time. They were children of Mitra and Varuṇa together:

• Agastya, who would become one of the greatest ṛshis. He drank the ocean, measured the Vindhya mountains, and established dharma in the south.
• Vasishṭha, who was born again just as Brahmā had promised, with the same name and with the memory of his earlier births.

Both were Mitra-Varuṇa-putras (sons of Mitra and Varuṇa). Being born from the same kalaśa, they were brothers.

Vasishṭha’s line

After his rebirth Vasishṭha married Arundhatī. She is called the sister of Nārada, a woman of the highest virtue. Her name stands for pativratā dharma (a wife’s loyalty to her husband). Her star, Arundhatī in the Saptarshi constellation, is shown to new brides as a model.

The line of Vasishṭha through this marriage is one of the most sacred in all the Purāṇas:

Vasishṭha → Śakti → Parāśara → Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa)

• Śakti was the son of Vasishṭha and Arundhatī.
• Parāśara was Śakti’s son, the author of the Parāśara Smṛti and the father of Vyāsa.
• Dvaipāyana Vyāsa (Kṛshṇadvaipāyana) was Parāśara’s son through Satyavatī. He is the greatest compiler of the Vedas and the author of the Mahābhārata and the Bhāgavata. He is the light that lit up the darkness of spiritual ignorance.

The text praises Vyāsa:

“From Dvaipāyana arose the Bhārata — that moon of radiant splendour which opens the eyes of those blinded by the darkness of ajñāna (ignorance).”

The Parāśara gotra

The chapter ends with the Parāśara gotra, the branch of Vasishṭha’s line that comes from Parāśara. It counts seven sub-vargas (groups). Six are named here:

1. Gaura-Parāśara (5 sub-gotras)
2. Nīla-Parāśara (5 sub-gotras)
3. Kṛshṇa-Parāśara (5 sub-gotras)
4. Śveta-Parāśara (5 sub-gotras: Vishṭāyana, Vātēya, Svāyashṭa, Upaya, Ishikahasta)
5. Śyāma-Parāśara (5 sub-gotras: Pāṭika, Pādari, Kodhanāyana, Kshāmi, and one other)
6. Dhūmra-Parāśara (5 sub-gotras: Svalāyana, Vārāyaṇa, Taitēya, Yūthapa, Tanti)

For all the Parāśara-gotra vargas, the pravara ṛshis are Parāśara, Śakti and Vasishṭha. A member of one Parāśara sub-varga may not marry a member of another Parāśara sub-varga.

The Bhāgavata account

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa (Skandha 9, Chapter 13) also tells the episode of Vasishṭha and Nimi. It tells of Vasishṭha’s request that Nimi wait, Nimi’s refusal, and the birth of Mitra and Varuṇa’s sons from Urvaśī and the pitcher. It gives a brief teaching by Nimi, and it says that Nimi’s jīva was placed in the eyelids.

In the Bhāgavata, the ṛtvijes (priests) kept Nimi’s body safe in oils. When Nimi declined to be born again, the body was churned and the first Janaka was born. In this way the Mithilā dynasty began.

Sources

• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 200
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 13 (the account of the episode in the Bhāgavata)