अध्याय १३
श्लोक 11.1
[य] कीदृशे पुरुषे तात सत्रीषु वा भरतर्षभ शरीः पद्मा वसते नित्यं तन मे बरूहि पितामह
[ya] kīdṛśe puruṣe tāta satrīṣu vā bharatarṣabha śarīḥ padmā vasate nityaṃ tana me barūhi pitāmaha
हिन्दी अर्थ
एतदेव पवित्रेभ्य: सर्वेभ्य: परमं स्मृतम्
English
" Yudhishthira said, 'If, O prince, Brahmanahood be so difficult of attainment by the three classes (Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras), how then did the high souled Viswamitra, O king, though a Kshatriya (by birth), attain to the status of a Brahmana? I desire to know this, O sire. Therefore, do thou truly relate this matter to me. That powerful man, O sire, by virtue of his austerities, destroyed in a moment the hundred sons of the high-souled Vasishtha. While under the influence of anger, he created numerous evil spirits and Rakshasas of mighty vigour and resembling the great destroyer Kala himself. The great and learned race of Kusika, numbering hundreds of regenerate sages and belauded by the Brahmanas, was founded in this world of men by him. Sunasepha of austere penances, the son of Richika, having been sought to be slain as an animal in the great sacrifice of Amvarisha, obtained his deliverance through Viswamitra. Harishchandra, having pleased the gods at a sacrifice, became a son of the wise Viswamitra. For not having honoured their eldest brother Devarat, whom Viswamitra got as a son from the gods, the other fifty brothers of his were cursed, and all of them became Chandalas. Trisanku, the son of Ikshwaku, through the curse of Vasistha became a Chandala, and when abandoned by