अदृश्यन्ती

{ adṛśyantī }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

ADṚŚYANTĪ   wife of sage Śakti, the son of Vasiṣṭha and mother of sage Parāśara. Kalmāṣapāda, a king of the Ikṣvāku dynasty reached the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha during a hunting expedition when Śakti, eldest of the hundred sons of Vasiṣṭha came walking towards him. False pride prevented either of them from giving way to the other. The King got angry and whipped Śakti. Śakti cursed the king and he was converted into a demon. This happened at a period when sages Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra were at logger-heads. Viśvāmitra got admitted into the body of King Kalmāṣapāda a demon called Kiṁkara, and the king set out to take revenge upon Śakti, the son of Vasiṣṭha. The King was further promised all support by Viśvāmitra. Kalmāṣapāda ate up all the hundred sons of Vasiṣṭha. Overcome with grief Vasiṣṭha attempted suicide many a time. But the spirit (Ātman) did not quit the body. Thus sunken in grief Vasiṣṭha lived in his hermitage with Adṛśyantī, wife of Śakti. One day Vasiṣṭha heard distinct sounds of the chanting of the Vedas and Adṛśyantī told him that a child of his son, Śakti, was developing in her womb and that the vedic sounds heard were sounds produced by that son chanting the vedic hymns. Vasiṣṭha thus was happy to hear that the dynasty will not become extinct and, so, gave up all ideas of suicide. Another day Kalmāṣapāda in the guise of the demon hurriedly came to devour Adṛśyantī and Vasiṣṭha gave him redemption from the curse. He was restored to his old state and form. Adṛśyantī duly gave birth to a son, and the child grew up to become Parāśara, father of Vyāsa. While the Pāṇḍavas, in the course of their forest life, were passing the banks of river Gaṅgā at midnight, a Gandharva named Aṁgāraparṇa enjoying in the river-water clashed with Arjuna, and he was defeated. The story of Adṛśyantī is one of the many stories told by Aṁgāraparṇa to the Pāṇḍavas. [M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapters 175-178] .