Kalmashapada requests Vashishtha to grant him a son
Freed from possession but without an heir, King Kalmashapada asks the sage Vashishtha for a son to secure his royal line. Vashishtha agrees, travels to the king’s capital, and unites with the queen in a divine rite to conceive a child.
King Kalmashapada, his senses and kingdom restored, faced one remaining debt: to his ancestors. He had no son to continue the Ikshvaku lineage. He turned to the man who had just freed him.
“O best among the twice-born! O best among those who are learned in the Vedas!” he said to Vashishtha. “I wish to obtain a boon from you, so that I can be freed from the debt I owe to the Ikshvaku lineage. I wish to have a son. Please go to my beloved queen, who is virtuous, beautiful and has all the qualities, so that the Ikshvaku lineage can be extended.”
Vashishtha, the best of Brahmanas and always devoted to the truth, agreed.
After some time, Vashishtha, accompanied by the blameless king, went to his capital, a city famous in the world as Ayodhya. The people came out in great joy to welcome the great-souled and sinless sage, like gods welcoming their chief. Accompanied by Vashishtha, the king entered his auspicious city. The citizens saw him and thought he looked like the sun rising in the auspicious constellation of Pushya. The fortunate king filled Ayodhya with his presence like the cool moon filling the autumn sky.
The city’s streets were clean and washed, adorned with flags and pennants. It was full of people who were happy and well fed, as radiant as Amaravati, Indra’s celestial capital.
After the rajarshi (royal sage) had entered the city, the queen came to Vashishtha at the king’s command. When the season was right, maharshi Vashishtha — the rishi who always obtained the best share — united with her. This was not an act of passion, but a rite, performed in accordance with the divine procedures laid down by the gods for the specific purpose of producing an heir.
The queen conceived. After paying his salutations to the sage, the king remained to rule, and Vashishtha returned to his hermitage.
The pregnancy was not ordinary. The embryo was carried for a long time — twelve years. When the time finally came, the famous lady split her womb open with a stone. From that extraordinary birth came rajarshi Ashmaka, who would later found the city of Potana and secure the lineage his father had nearly lost.