Parashara

According to legend, Vasishtha, Parashara's grandfather, attempted to commit suicide after Parashara's father Shakti and his other sons were devoured by the king Kalmashapada: he jumped from Mount Meru only to land on soft cotton, entered a forest fire only to remain unscathed, dove into the ocean but was cast ashore, and jumped in the overflowing river Vipasa only to end up on the banks. Finally, he jumped into the river Haimavat: the river, out of fear, split itself in several directions thus obtaining the name Satadru.^{[citation needed]}

When he returned to his ashram, he saw that his daughter-in-law was pregnant. When the son was born, Vashistha acted as the child's father and gave up his attempts at suicide. The child was named Parashara which means enlivener of the dead.^[5]

According to the Vedas, the god Brahma created Vasishtha (reborn to Mitra-Varuna), who, with his wife Arundhati, had a son named Shakti who sired Parashara. With Satyavati of the Kaivartta clan^[6], Parashara was the father of Vyasa. Vyasa sired Dhritarashtra and Pandu through his deceased half-brother's wives, Ambika and Ambalika, and Vidura through a hand-maiden of Ambika and Ambalika. Vyasa also sired Shuka through his wife, Jabali's daughter Pinjala. Thus Parashara was the biological grandfather of both the warring parties of the Mahabharata, the Kauravas and the Pandavas (though some think that the Pandavas were offspring of various gods and Kunti).^{[citation needed]}

Parashara's biological father, the sage Shakti, died before his birth; because of this Vasishtha, Shakti's father, joined Adrushyanti (Parashara's biological mother and wife of Shakti) in his hermitage. Vasishtha heard the chanting of the Vedas, and Adrushyanti told him that the Vedic hymn sounds were coming from the child of his son, developing in her womb, which gladdened Vasishtha. Adrushyanti gave birth to her son and the child grew up to become Parashara.^[7]

Raised under the tutelage of his grandfather, the venerable sage Vasishtha, Parashara grew up in the shadow of a tragic legacy. His father, Shakti Muni, met a gruesome end while traveling through a dense forest. There, he encountered King Kalmashapada, who had been transformed into a cannibalistic Rakshasa due to a curse ironically which was curse originally provoked by a dispute with Shakti himself. Driven by demonic hunger and the weight of the spell, the Rakshasa devoured Shakti, leaving the young Parashara fatherless. This profound loss kindled a fierce, vengeful fire within the boy. As recorded in the Vishnu Purana, Parashara’s resentment was so potent that he initiated a grand sacrificial ritual intended to annihilate every Rakshasa in existence, an act of retribution that only the wisdom and intervention of Vasishtha could eventually temper.

I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rākṣasa employed by Vishwamitra: violent anger seized me and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rākṣasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely exterminated, my grandfather Vasishtha said to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rākṣasas are not culpable: thy father's death was the work of destiny. Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is anyone killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: be not subject to its influence, my child. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous.^[8]

Parashara once halted for a night in a little hamlet on the banks of the river Yamuna. He was put up in the house of the fisherman-chieftain Dasharaj. When dawn broke, the chief asked his daughter, Matsyagandha, whose name means "one with the smell of fish", to ferry the sage to his next destination. When in the ferry, Parashara who was also a pioneer in the field of vedic astrology, noticed the position of the stars and concluded that an auspicious time had begun in which the Lord had to descend onto this world, and asked her to fulfill his desire of helping the Lord descend by giving a son to her. Matsyagandha refused fearing the other people and sages who were standing on the bank of river at the other side.^[1]

He then created an island within the river by his mystic potency and asked her to land the boat there. On reaching the other side, the sage once again chanted the mantra to make her pregnant, but she declared that her body stank and Parashara granted her the boon that the finest fragrance may emit from her person. She was thereafter known as Satyavati (pure fragrance).^[1] Matsyagandha was transformed (by the powers of the sage) into Yojanagandha ("she whose fragrance can be smelled from across a yojana").^[9] She now smelled of musk, and so was called Kasturi-Gandhi ("musk-fragrant").^[1] Then, she insisted that the act of getting a child was not appropriate in broad daylight, as her father and others would see them from the other bank; they should wait till night. The sage, with his powers, shrouded the entire area in fog. Then, Parashara embraced her and by his mystic power, she became pregnant with Krishna Dvaipāyana Veda Vyasa, who was dark-complexioned and hence was called by the name Krishna (black) and also the name Dwaipayana, meaning 'island-born'. Later, Parashara took him with himself and trained him in vedic studies. He later compiled the classic Vedic literatures of India, and so is called Vyasa who is the 17th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Later, Satyavati returned to her father's house and in due course, married Śantanu.^[1]

In Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata, Parashara told Yudhisthira that he prayed to Shiva. His desire was to obtain a son with great ascetic merit, endued with superior energy, earn world-wide fame, and arrange the Vedas. Shiva appeared and granted him his wishes and in addition, he told him that his son Krishna will be one of the Saptarshis of Savarni manvantara, be immortal by being freed of diseases, and he will be friend of Indra.^[10]

Parashara was known as the "limping sage". He had his leg wounded during an attack on his āśrama. When a ṛṣi dies he merges back into an element or an archetype. When Sage Parashara was walking through a dense forest he and his students were attacked by wolves. He was unable to get away in his old age with a lame leg and he left this world merging into the wolves.^[11]

In the Rigveda, Parashara, son of Shakti (Parāśara Śāktya), is the seer of verses 1.65-73 which are all in praise of Agni (the sacred fire), and part of 9.97 (v.31-44) which is in praise of Soma. Below is 1.73.2:

devo na yaḥ savitā satyamanmā kratvā nipāti vṛjanāni viṣvā

purupraṣasto amatirna satya ātmeva Sevo didhiṣāyyo bhūt

He who is like the divine Sun, who knows the truth (of all things), preserves by his actions (his votaries) in all encounters; like nature,

he is unchangeable and, like soul, is the source of all happiness: he is ever to be cherished.^[12]

• Parashara Smriti (also called Parashara Dharma Samhita): a code of laws which is stated in the text (1.24) to be for Kali Yuga.^[13]
• Speaker of Viṣṇu Purana to Maitreya.^[14]
• Speaker in Brihada Vishnu Purana to Maitreya.^[15]
• Speaker of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, abbreviated as BPHS. It is considered a foundational text of Hindu astrology.
• Speaker of the Vṛkṣāyurveda ("the science of life of trees"), one of the earliest texts on botany.^[16] This text was considered to be an ancient botany primer for students of Traditional Indian Medicine.
• Parashar Gita - philosophical dialogues with King Janaka.^[17]