(1) King DaÜaratha had no male issue. As a result of Vasiƒ¢ha’s benediction he was blessed with four sons at the age of 60,000 years. (2) The seventh Manu, Vaivasvata, had no son. The sage Vasiƒ¢ha caused a sacrifice to be performed by him. Manu’s consort, ÝraddhŒ, wished to have a daughter and accordingly requested the sacrificial priest (HotŒ) to get her a daughter. The priest offered oblations with that motive and as a result of this a daughter, IlŒ by name, was born to ÝraddhŒ. Vaivasvata was taken aback to hear of this change and approached the sage with his grievance. Vasiƒ¢ha, who came to know the cause through meditation, consoled the Manu and assured him that he would fulfil his desire by dint of his penance. He prayed to the Lord and propitiated Him and secured a blessing from Him to the effect that the king’s daughter would be transformed into a son. IlŒ was accordingly changed into Sudyumna. One day, Sudyumna, who was now grown up into full manhood and was out for hunting, entered the precincts of a pleasure-grove at the foot of Mount Sumeru, reserved for BhagavŒn Ýiva and Goddess PŒrvat¶, and was retransformed into a woman under a standing curse pronounced by Ýiva that any male who entered the grove would be changed into a woman. The moon-god’s son, Budha, who had been practising austerity in the vicinity of that grove fell in love with the woman and she too was attracted towards him. The pair accordingly lived together as husband and wife. One day the princess invoked Vasiƒ¢ha, who appeared before her and was moved with pity to see her plight. He prayed to Lord Ýiva and secured from him a boon to the effect that the prince would change his sex every month. He thus lived with Budha as his wife for one month and ruled over his kingdom as Sudyumna during another by rotation. (3) Vasiƒ¢ha, who was a mind-born son of BrahmŒ, was called upon by his father to assume the role of a family priest in relation to the Kings of the solar race. Finding him reluctant to accept this position, which was rather humiliating. BrahmŒ tried to persuade him by the argument that the Lord Himself would appear in that line in the TretŒyuga and that he would automatically secure the enviable position of the Lord’s own family priest and preceptor and live on most intimate terms with Him. According to the order of sequence originally determined, DvŒpara (literally, the second Yuga) was to follow Satyayuga and TretŒ (literally, the third Yuga) was to come next. Vasiƒ¢ha, however, was too impatient to wait for a couple of Yugas and accordingly changed their order of sequence. It was under His dispensation that TretŒ followed Satyayuga and DvŒpara succeeded TretŒ. (4) The sage ViÜvŒmitra, who originally belonged to the Kƒatriya caste, practised austere penance for thousands of years with a view to attaining Brahmanhood. At last BrahmŒ recognized his claims to Brahmanhood and called him a Brahmarƒi (a BrŒhma˜a sage). But ViÜvŒmitra would not be satisfied until Vasiƒ¢ha accepted him as such In this way he attached a greater weight to Vasiƒ¢ha’s opinion. Vasiƒ¢ha however, declined to accept him as a Brahmarƒi till he retained even a tinge of egotism. He addressed him as a Brahmarƒi only when he was satisfied that ViÜvŒmitra had been purged of the last traces of egotism. Others, however, maintain that Vasiƒ¢ha did not recognize his claims to Brahmanhood till the last. (5) During the nuptials of King Dil¶pa and Sudakƒi˜Œ the ends of the garments of the bride and bridegroom were tied together most tightly. When Vasiƒ¢ha enquired the reason he was told that the pair would die the moment their knot was untied. The sage thereupon altered the course of destiny and averted their death. 580 * ÝR” RMACARITAMNASA* “And yet you ask advice of me at this juncture ! All this is my misfortune.” The Guru’s heart overflowed with love when he heard these affectionate words. (255)