Kalmāshapāda and Śakti

This upākhyāna (narrative inside a larger narrative) from the Caitraratha Parva tells one of the darkest events in the family of Vasishṭha. King Kalmāshapāda, also called Saudāsa and Mitrasaha, was taken over by a Kinkara rākshasa that Viśvāmitra had set on him out of enmity. In that state he killed Śakti, the eldest son of Vasishṭha, and then ate all one hundred of Vasishṭha’s sons. A brāhmaṇa woman later gave him a śāpa (a curse). In the end Vasishṭha freed the king from the rākshasa, and Vasishṭha had a son with the king’s wife Madayantī through niyoga. That son was Aśmaka, who carried on the solar line. The episode closes with Dhaumya being chosen as the purohita (family priest) of the Pāṇḍavas.

The Kinkara rākshasa

Kalmāshapāda was a kshatriya king of the solar dynasty, a man of great power. He also had the names Mitrasaha and Saudāsa. One day he met Śakti, the eldest son of Vasishṭha, on a narrow path in the forest. They quarrelled over who should give way, and the meeting turned hostile. In the heat of that anger a Kinkara rākshasa entered the king’s body. The rākshasa was already nearby. Viśvāmitra, who was an enemy of Vasishṭha, had sent it there through his ill will.

Held by the rākshasa, the king became a man-eater. He killed Śakti on the spot and ate him.

The death of all one hundred sons

The Kinkara had taken control of Kalmāshapāda’s body and drove him on to more killing. One by one, each of Vasishṭha’s one hundred sons was killed and eaten by the king in this state. The great ṛshi’s whole line of sons came to an end. This is the sorrow that stands behind the account of Vasishṭha’s grief, in which Vasishṭha tried to end his life and wandered in despair.

The brāhmaṇa woman’s śāpa

While the rākshasa drove him through the forest, Kalmāshapāda met a brāhmaṇa and his wife. The brāhmaṇa asked the king for a gift. The rākshasa drove the king to kill the brāhmaṇa instead. His wife saw her husband killed and gave Kalmāshapāda a śāpa: he would die if he ever lay with his own wife Madayantī in desire.

This śāpa, added to the rākshasa’s hold on him, meant that Kalmāshapāda could not have a child by his own wife, even after he was set free.

Vasishṭha frees the king

Vasishṭha came out of his grief and took up his life of dharma again after the birth of Parāśara. In time he met Kalmāshapāda. With his yogic sight he saw what had happened. He sprinkled purifying water on the king and drove the rākshasa out of his body. Kalmāshapāda came back to his senses, knew Vasishṭha, and bowed before him in shame and regret.

Niyoga with Madayantī and the birth of Aśmaka

The king and his queen Madayantī had no son, and the brāhmaṇa woman’s śāpa stood in the way of a union between them. Kalmāshapāda went to Vasishṭha and asked him to perform niyoga with the queen so that the royal line could go on. Niyoga is the practice, accepted in dharma, of getting an heir when a husband cannot father one himself.

Vasishṭha agreed. Madayantī conceived through niyoga with Vasishṭha. But the pregnancy lasted twelve years, and the child would not be born. At last, when the time was right, Madayantī struck her own womb with a stone, and the boy was born. Because he was born after a blow with a stone (aśman), he was named Aśmaka.

Aśmaka went on to carry forward the solar line of Kalmāshapāda.

Dhaumya chosen as purohita

At the end of this part of the Caitraratha Parva, the account tells that Dhaumya was chosen as the purohita of the Pāṇḍavas. Dhaumya was a great ṛshi of fine conduct and learning.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Caitraratha Parva, Chapter 182: the Kinkara rākshasa, the death of Vasishṭha’s sons, the brāhmaṇa woman’s śāpa, Vasishṭha frees the king
• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 183: niyoga with Madayantī, the birth of Aśmaka, Dhaumya chosen as purohita