A painting of Vishwamitra by Raja Ravi Varma.
The spiritual significance of Goa has been attested in Hinduism, Catholicism as well as Islam. A land is sanctified by the presence of holy men. October 28 marks Vishwamitra Jayanti, a day to commemorate Vishwamitra, a Rig Vedic sage closely linked with Goa.
Indeed, no Hindu could be unaware of the Gayatri Mantra. It was composed by none other than Rishi Vishwamitra, one of the seven ancient Rishis of India. Historically, Vishwamitra was a Rigvedic Rishi who was the chief author of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda. Puranas also state that he was the preceptor of Sree Rama and his brother Lakshmana.
Sage Vishwamitra is also the Father of Shakuntala, who is, in turn, the mother of emperor Bharata, after whom our country is known as Bharat.
According to Puranas, Rishi Vishwamitra was of Kingly origin who attained the status of priestly class purely through merit and not through his birth. This illustrates the fluidity of castes in ancient Hinduism.
The story of Vishwamitra is an inspiring one. Born as King Kaushika, a powerful ruler, he found his world changed after his encounter with Rishi Vasishtha. Through a soul-seeking journey filled with determination, penances, conquest of Passions and Conquest of Oneself (ego), he ascended the heights of spiritual knowledge, finally being called as Vishwamitra (Friend of the World). His compassion as well as his sense of justice is also well illustrated in the Puranas.
How is this great Rishi relevant to Goa? Konkan is known as Parashuram Kshetra after Sage Parashuram. He and Sage Vishwamitra share a maternal ancestry. Satyavati was the grandmother of Parashuram while it was the Mother of Satyavati who gave birth to Vishwamitra.
The temple traditions of Sree Saptakoteshwar, the family deity of Goan Kadambas, built by the Pandyan Princess Kamaldevi in the 12th century speaks of seven sages who did penance for seven crore years in the Divar island. It includes the sages Vishwamitra, Kashypa, Atri, Vasishtha, Gautam, Jamdagni and Bhardwaj.
The spiritual descendants of Sage Vishwamitra could be found in Kshatriyas as well as the Brahmins. He is considered as the paternal figure in two Gotras, namely Vishwamitra and Kaushika. Dr Dinesh Prakash Saklani, director of NCERT, notes that Rishi Vishwamitra is the founder of Kaushika Gotra.
Many of the spiritual descendants of Sage Vishwamitra played a vital role in Goan history.
Indeed, the Konkan Maratha identity is incomplete without Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He reconstructed the Saptokeshwar temple in Narve. He belonged to the Kaushik Gotra.
The history of the village of Quelossim (Keloshi) is linked with the Kaushika Gotra. According to tradition, Loma Sharma of Kaudinya Gotra, and Shiva Sharma of Kaushika Gotra came to Goa from Kanyakubja (the modern Kanauj in Uttar Pradesh) on their way to Rameshvara pilgrimage and settled in the villages of Kushasthali and Keloshi.
One of the progenitors of the family of the Saraswath Brahmins belonging to the Kaushika Gotra in Goa, whose family god is said to be one Simha Puruşa, or a man named Simha, has been deified by his descendants. Shrines for him could be found at Shri Mhalsa of Priol, Gavne as well as Borim.
An ancient ashram dedicated to Sage Vishwamitra is located in the mountains of Pushkar, Rajasthan. It is an ideal place for meditation. Rishi Vishwamitra is credited as the founder of Brahma temple in Pushkar. Apart from Pushkar, we have a temple in Goa dedicated to Brahma in Karmali.
The life of Rishi Vishwamitra is an invitation to us to dedicate our life to search and find the Supreme Truth - God Himself.
(The writer is a Goa-based researcher on the Carmelite religious congregation).
