The King Who Became a Demon

The sages told the Pandavas of King Kalmashapada and the sage Vasishtha - a tale of the most terrible grief borne with the most perfect forbearance, and of a forgiveness that returned good for the worst of evils.

There was a king of the solar line named Kalmashapada, a mighty ruler but proud. And there was, as you have heard, a long and bitter rivalry between the two greatest of sages, Vasishtha and Vishvamitra - the contest between them that had run for ages. It happened that one day King Kalmashapada, out hunting in the forest, came upon a narrow path where he met Shakti, the eldest of the hundred sons of the sage Vasishtha, walking toward him. The path was too narrow for both to pass, and neither would step aside - the proud king demanding that the sage's son yield, and the sage's son standing on the right of a brahmin to be given way. In his arrogance and anger, the king raised his whip and struck Shakti, the son of Vasishtha.