Viswaratha had no weapon left in his quiver. He was put to greater shame than he had suffered on the earlier attempt.
Vasishta who was silent all the time stood up, walked a few paces towards Viswaratha and said,"O king, all your weaponswere swallowed by Brahmadanda. It can swallow you as well. Your great valour came to naught before the Brahmadanda."
The king was in deep thought. One small dry piece of wood had swallowed all his weapons. "It is not just a piece of wood. It is Brahmadanda which has taken upon itself all the powers of Vasishta's years of tapas. I marved at its great power.Vasishta's power, now given to his Brahmadanda is really invincible. What a great man Vasishta is Reallyhe is the greatest and the best. My kshastra power is nothing before his Brahma power. The power that one attains byhis tapas is the greatest."
Vasishta who was holding the Brahmadanda was angry for a short while. A great man's anger is like the anger of a mother. Itends on a happy note without harming anyone. All the sages in the ashram and the devas, who got mortally frightenedwhen viswaratha wielded the Brahmastra came running to Sage vasishta imploring him,"O Brahmarshi, your power of Brahma is unequalled and praise worthly. There is no force in all the three worlds, equal to you in strength. Weimplore you de-fuse the power of this Brahmastra. You are the only person capable of doing it. O Brahman, pacifyyourself and bless us."
The Brahmastra in an all powerful weapon. If it is not de-fused, it is going to destroy the entire world. Vasishtawas aware of it and therefore he made it become one with his great power of Brahma. The devas felt happy thinkingthat the great sage saved the world from total annihilation.
King Viswaratha wa beaten all ends up. He was very proud, thinking that he was invincible. One could see the proudking on he one side and Vasishta who had conquered pride, hatred and anger on the other side. His pride made Kaushikaappear adwarf before the toering personality of Vasishta.
"I am going to control my senses and attain Brahmanya for which I must perform severe tapas",sa saying Viswaratha prostrated before Vashishta and other sages in the ashram and left the place.
Again the feeling of hatred was simmering in his heart. I lost my fame, name, weapons and army, but my enemy Vasishtais not destroyed. Let me perform tapas and attain power to destroy this brahmin'. Thinking thus he went to the slopesof the Himalayas.
He performed tapas for a long number of years. Lord Brahma was pleased with the devotion and appeared before him andsaid," Anena tapasa twantu Rajarshirithi vidmahe," You have become pure as a result of your tapas. Therefore I consideryou as a Rajarshi. So saying He disappeared. Vishwaratha desired to become a Brahmarshi. Therefore the word Rajarshifell on his ears as a thunderbolt.' After performing severe tapas for so long could I just reach the status of the Rajarshi?Have I not become a Brahmarshi," he wailed. He continued his austere tapas. Kaushika attained a number of landmarksin his journey towards reaching the exalted state of Brahmarshi.
Once the land of Kosala was ruled by a king by name Trishanku. He had a son by name Harischandra. He had a strange desire of reaching heaven taking his mortal body with him and enjoy the pleasures of heaven. The desire became uncontrollable.
He decided to fulfill his desire on any account and he went to the preceptor of the Surya clan, Sage Vasishta. Hemade obeisence to the preceptor and his wife with all humility.
Vasishta also treated him as a royal guest. He inquired about the welfare of his family and people. Trishanku answeredeach question with utmost respect.
Finally Vasishta asked him, ' O great king what made you travel so far?Trishanku was a bit hesitant at first. But his great desire force him to speak out. He took courage and said,"O greatsage I have a request to make. I know only you can fulfill my desire. I...I desire to go to heaven with this mortalbody. You can help me achieve it."
Vasishta thought for a while and said,"O king, your desire is beyond human attainment. You cannot go to heaven withyour body. Only when a person performs soyayaga, he can reach heaven after death. It is true that some humans havegone to heaven with their body to help the devas. They made such trips on request from the devas. One cannot go thereas one desires".
Trishanku did not leave the sage at that. He said, "Revered acharya I have performed many such Yajnas. Therefore I desire to go there.. It is the only place one can enjoy life to one's heart content. Don't yo think so? If you makeuo your mind you can send me to heaven". He implored the sage to help him.