STORY OF RISHI PARASHARA
MAHARSHI PARASHARA was a well-known Vedic Sage who is regarded as the father of Jyotish Shastra or Vedic Astrology. He is accredited as the author of Vishnu Purana, the first of 18 Puranas of Hindu Literature compiled by his son Veda Vyasa.
Parashara Rishi was the son of Shakti Muni and Adrishyanti and a disciple of Bashkal and Yajnavalkya. Sage Parashara was actually raised by his grandfather, Rishi Vasishtha, one of the Saptarishis. It is because his father Shakti Muni had died before his birth and...
There is an interesting story behind the birth of Sage Parashara involving the death of his father Shakti Muni. Once when Shakti Muni was crossing the bridge, there came the King of Ayodhya named Klamashpada. He belonged to the Ikshavaku Dynasty.
He was riding on his chariot so that there was no enough space left for Shakti Muni to move forward. Shakti Muni politely requested him but the king did not pull back his chariot. They both remained stuck on the matter.
When the King did not compromise, Shakti Muni became very angry and cursed him to become a Rakshasa. Soon the king turned into a monster. Then the Rakshasa killed the sons of Rishi Vasishth along with Shakti Muni.
When Rishi Vashisth came to know of this incident, he got frustrated with extreme sorrow. Distracted Rishi also decided to give up his life. But he could not succeed even after trying many times. Then he went to the Himalayas with his family.
One day, suddenly the Vedas recitation started&he looked around in amazement. He did not see anyone. Then Shakti Muni’s wife told him that she was pregnant and the child in the womb was reciting Vedas. Rishi Vashisth got happy and gave up the idea to give up his life. The child was Parashara.
There is also a mention of Rishi Parashar in Mahabharata where he gets enchanted to a girl, who smelled like fish and named Matsyagandga. This girl was Satyawati whose work was to take people across Yamuna River. One day Rishi Parashar met the girl when he wanted to cross the river.
He got attracted to her and expressed his desire to have a relationship with her. But she refused to have an immoral affair. However, Parashara kept persuading and pleading her. In the end, Satyawati gave up to his wish but put 3 conditions in front of him.
- No one should be able to see us. Parashar spread dense fog everywhere with his Yogic power.
- Her virginity should not be dissolved under any circumstances. Parashara assured her that she will get back her virginity as soon as she gave birth.
- She wanted the fishy odour that came from her body to transform into an aroma.
Parashar Rishi fulfilled all her conditions and then they made a relationship. A son was born out of it named Krishnadwaipayan who was later known popularly as Veda Vyas-compiler of 4 Vedas.
Later in his life when he came to know that his father was killed by a Rakshasa, he decided to take revenge by ending the Rakshas clan from the face of the Earth. To accomplish this he started a Rakshas Satra Yagya, whereby all the Rakshasas started to fall in the Holy Fire...
...of Yagya and turning into Ashes one by one. Maharshi Pulatsya came and requested him to stop this as it was unfair to kill all the Rakshasas without any reason and he preached Non-violence to him. After the prayers and sermons of Pulatsya and Vyasa, Parashara stopped the Yagya.
Maharishi Pulatsya gave him many blessings and predicted that he will compose Puraan Samhita in the future which he did besides many others. Rishi Parashar acquired knowledge of many disciplines and given them to the world. He has many verses in the Rig Veda.
His other compositions are Vishnu Puraan, Parashar Samhita, Parashar Geeta, Brihat Parashar Samhita etc. In the dialogue of Bhishma and Yudhishthir in Shanti Parv of Mahabharat, Bhisma reveals the conversation between Raja Janak and Parashar to Yudhishthir.
This conversation is known as Parashar Geeta. He composed many texts out of which his texts on Astrology are the most important. Ancient and Present Astrology is based on the rules laid down by Parashara, for which he is known as the 'Father of Vedic Astrology'.