Maharishi Charusirsha

Maharishi Charusirsha

Other names: Charuśīrṣa; Alamvana’s son. A compassionate sage described in the Mahabharata as the son of Alamvana and a dear friend of Sakra/Indra. He performed severe penance at Gokarna for a hundred years and received from Sarva/Shiva the boon of one hundred long-lived, righteous sons.

“After this, the Rishi named Charusirsha, that dear friend of Sakra and known otherwise under the name of Alamvana’s son and who is filled with compassion, said,–I, in former days, repaired to the mountains of Gokarna and sat myself to practise severe penances for a hundred years. As the reward of those penances, I obtained from Sarva, O son of king Pandu, a hundred sons, all of whom were born without the intervention of woman, of wellrestrained soul, conversant with righteousness, possessed of great splendour, free from disease and sorrow, and endued with lives extending over a hundred thousand years” – The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section XVIII

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