viṡvāmitrasyasaṉjayaḥ

viṡvā-mitra

viṡvā́-mitra

N. of a celebrated Ṛishi orﾠ Sage (having the patr. Gāthina, Gādheya, andﾠ Jāhnava;
he was at first a functionary, together with Vasishṭha, of Su-dās, king of the Tṛitsus;
seeing Vasishṭha preferred by the king, he went over to the Bharatas, but could not prevent their being defeated by Su-dās, although he caused the waters of the rivers Vipāṡ andﾠ Ṡutudri to retire andﾠ so give the Bharatas free passage RV. III, 33 ;
he was born as a Kshatriya, deriving his lineage from an ancestor of Kuṡika, named Purū-ravas, of the lunar race of kings, andﾠ himself sovereign of Kanyā-kubja orﾠ Kanoj;
his fame rests chiefly on his contests with the great Brāhman Vasishṭha, andﾠ his success in elevating himself. though a Kshatriya, to the rank of a Brāhman seeﾠ Manu VII, 42:
the Rāmayaṇa, which makes him a companion andﾠ counsellor of the young Rāma-candra, records I, 51-65 how Viṡvāmitra, on his accession to the throne, visited Vasishṭha's hermitage,
andﾠ seeing there the cow of plenty <probably typical of go, the earth >,
offered him untold treasures in exchange for it, but being refused, prepared to take it by force;
a long contest ensued between the king andﾠ the saint <symbolical of the struggles between the Kshatriya andﾠ Brāhmanical classes>,
which ended in the defeat of Viṡvāmitra, whose vexation was such that, in order to become a Brāhman andﾠ thus conquer his rival, he devoted himself to intense austerities
during which he was seduced by the nymph Menakā andﾠ had by her a daughter, Ṡakuntalā,
gradually increasing the rigour of his mortification through thousands of years, till he successively earned the titles of Rājarshi, Ṛishi, Maharshi, andﾠ finally Brahmarshi;
he is supposed to be the author of nearly the whole of RV. III, andﾠ of IX, 67, 1315; X, 137, 5; 167 ;
moreover, a law-book, a Dhanurveda, andﾠ a medical wk. are attributed to him) RV. etc. etc.;
a partic. Catur-aha (= viṡvāmitrasyasaṉjayaḥ) PañcavBr. KātyṠr. ;
a partic. Anuvāka (= viṡvāmitrasyâ̱nuvākaḥ) Pat. ;
pl. the family of Viṡvāmitra RV. AV. ;
(ā) f. N. of a river MBh. ;
- kalpa m. - pa-taru m. N. of wks.;
- jamad-agni m. du. Viṡvāmitra andﾠ Jamad-agni RV. ;
- nadī f. N. of a river MBh. ;
- pura n. orﾠ - purī f. N. of a town (- rīya mfn.) PratijñāS.;
- priya m. « dear to Viṡvāmitra», the cocoa-nut tree L. ;
N. of Kārttikeya MBh. ;
- rāṡi m. N. of a man Inscr. ;
- saṉhitā f. N. of sev. wks.;
- sṛishṭi f. Viṡvāmitra's creation (in allusion to several things fabled to have been created by this saint in rivalry of Brahmā. e.g.. the fruit of the Palmyra in imitation of the human skull, the buffalo in imitation of the cow, the ass of the horse etc.) MW. ;
- smṛiti f. N. of wk.