Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 7
Purukutsa’s Rasātala Victory; Triśaṅku and Hariścandra; Rohita and Śunaḥśepha
त्रैशङ्कवो हरिश्चन्द्रो विश्वामित्रवसिष्ठयो: । यन्निमित्तमभूद् युद्धं पक्षिणोर्बहुवार्षिकम् ॥ ७ ॥
traiśaṅkavo hariścandro viśvāmitra-vasiṣṭhayoḥ yan-nimittam abhūd yuddhaṁ pakṣiṇor bahu-vārṣikam
ત્રિશંકુનો પુત્ર હરિશ્ચંદ્ર હતો. હરિશ્ચંદ્રના કારણે વિશ્વામિત્ર અને વસિષ્ઠ વચ્ચે વૈર ઊભું થયું; તેઓ પક્ષીરૂપ ધારણ કરીને અનેક વર્ષો સુધી પરસ્પર યુદ્ધ કરતા રહ્યા.
Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha were always inimical. Formerly, Viśvāmitra was a kṣatriya, and by undergoing severe austerities he wanted to become a brāhmaṇa, but Vasiṣṭha would not agree to accept him. In this way there was always disagreement between the two. Later, however, Vasiṣṭha accepted him because of Viśvāmitra’s quality of forgiveness. Once Hariścandra performed a yajña for which Viśvāmitra was the priest, but Viśvāmitra, being angry at Hariścandra, took away all his possessions, claiming them as a contribution of dakṣiṇā. Vasiṣṭha, however, did not like this, and therefore a fight arose between Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra. The fighting became so severe that each of them cursed the other. One of them said, “May you become a bird,” and the other said, “May you become a duck.” Thus both of them became birds and continued fighting for many years because of Hariścandra. We can see that such a great mystic yogī as Saubhari became a victim of sense gratification, and such great sages as Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra became birds. This is the material world. Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna. Within this material world, or within this universe, however elevated one may be in material qualities, one must suffer the conditions of birth, death, old age and disease ( janma-mṛtyu jarā-vyādhi ). Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that this material world is simply miserable ( duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam ). The Bhāgavatam says, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām: at every step here there is danger. Therefore, because the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement provides the opportunity for the human being to get out of this material world simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, this movement is the greatest benediction in human society.
FAQs
In this verse, Śukadeva introduces Hariścandra as the son of Triśaṅku and notes that major conflict between the sages Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha arose in connection with him.
This verse states that Hariścandra became the occasion (nimitta) for their prolonged dispute; the detailed reasons unfold in the surrounding narrative of Canto 9, Chapter 7.
Even great personalities can enter long disputes when circumstances become a trigger; the verse encourages seekers to be cautious about becoming the “nimitta” for conflict and to prioritize dharma and restraint.