when the all-knowing and all-powerful preceptor of the devas, sage Brhaspathi, asked Kaushika to stop, the latterthought that it was his duty to respect his words and said,"So be it" and brought the yajna to a close. All the devas vanished.
Brhaspathi acarya said,"Rajarshi Kaushika, you are a sage,, besides this, you have conducted yourself as a friend tothe whole world. Therefore from now on you will be known as Viswamitra. You will be a friend to all human beings, animals and birds. May God bless you" He blessed Viswamitra and vanished.
The word Viswamitra began to jingle in his mind and he later uttered the name several times "what a good name!Friendof the whole world!"He was supremely happy.
Trishanku was in a miserable plight. He could neither ascend to heaven, nor come back to earth. He was dangling headdown in the mid air and the place came to be called Trishanku Swarga. Viswamitra began to live true to his name beinggood to everyone and people began to consider him as their great friend and showed him a great respect. He was happythat he was considered a sage, and at the same time he was unhappy because he had not become a Brahmarshi. He wantedto become a brahmana and acquire a true qualities of the true Brahmana. His desire to become a Brahmarshi becameirresistible. One day Aswinin devas appeared before him and consoled him saying,"O great sage, do not be in a hurry.You still have desire and anger in you. Conquer them first. Then you become a brahmana easily"So saying they disappeared.Viswamitra made up his mind to conquer desire and anger. He was already trying to control his emotions.
King Trishanku had a son by name Harischandra. When his father went to swarga he became the king of Kosala. He wasthe 28th King in his line. He was righteous and efficient. He had a devoted wife by name Chandramathi. The king andthe queen were like father and mother to the subjects.
Unfortunately Harishchandra did not have children for a long time. He was sad that his line was in danger of becomingextinct. The queen was also unhappy that she was not blessed with a child which would call her 'amma'.
When his desire became intense he prayed to Lord Varuna, the god of the sea saying that if he got a son he would givethat son in sacrifise to him in a yagna.
Varuna blessed the kinf with a son. The king and the queen were very happy. In their great love for the child they forgotthe promise made to the Lord of the seas. They named their son Rohita. One day Varuna came to the king in person.The king was scared. The queen was in great distress.
The king welcomed the Lord of the West. Varuna, was pleased by the king's hospitality and said,"O king you promisedto sacrifise your son when you got one. Now you have become a father. Please be true to your word,"Harishchandra wasgreatly worried. He said,"O lord of the Sea, the child is still very small. Which parent will be ready to sacrifisean olny child. Please wait for some time". Varuna agreed. He made many trips to Harishchandra but he had to returndisappointed. The king revealed to his son about the promise he had made to Varuna. Rohit refused to agree to begiven in sacrifise. He ran away from the palace and began to live in a lonely place for a number of years.
Varuna was angry and cursed the king saying that he should become a victim of the disease called Mohadara.
The curse had its sway over the king and his stomach grew to an unwieldly size. His limits also swelled up and hiswhole body looked ugly and he experienced pain all over his body. The royal physicians and country doctors triedtheir best but they were not successful in curing the king's disease.
The king was suffering hell and desired death to come to him and relieve him of all the troubles. The King realisedthat his plight was the result of a lie and he did not desire even his enemies to be put into his miserable plight.
He vowed to speak the truth and nothing but the truth.