Vashishtha frees King Kalmashapada from a rakshasa
For twelve years, King Kalmashapada has been possessed by a rakshasa, a demonic spirit that swallowed his royal self. When the monstrous king advances through the forest, the sage Vashishtha stops him with a roar and a handful of sanctified water.
A woman in the forest saw the figure advancing and was terrified. Vashishtha told her not to be afraid. The thing she saw was not a rakshasa. It was King Kalmashapada, a powerful and famous ruler of the earth. The terrible spirit merely lived inside him.
As the king — or the creature wearing the king’s body — came towards them, the illustrious and energetic rishi Vashishtha stopped him with a roar. He took water, sanctified it with mantras, and sprinkled it over the king. The ritual worked. He freed the good king from the terrible rakshasa that had possessed him.
For twelve years, the king had been swallowed. The source of the possession was the energy of Vashishtha’s own son, Shakti, whom the king had once wronged — a curse that had taken the form of this demonic attachment. The king had been eclipsed, like the sun swallowed by Rahu at the time of an eclipse.
Freed, the king’s own royal energy returned. He reddened the great forest with his splendor, like the sun illuminating the evening clouds. His senses restored, he saw Vashishtha before him. He joined his palms in worship.
“O illustrious one! O best of Brahmanas!” he said. “I am the son of Sudasa. You are my preceptor. Tell me what your wish is now and what I should do.”
Vashishtha’s reply was simple. “O lord of men! My desire was fulfilled when the right time arrived. Return to your kingdom and rule. And never again disregard Brahmanas.”
The king’s promise was immediate. “O illustrious one! I shall never again disregard the bulls among Brahmanas. In accordance with your instructions, I shall always worship the twice-born.” Then he made a request of his own. He needed a son to free himself from the debt he owed to his Ikshvaku lineage.