Soudasa

In Bhagiratha’s line there was a king called Soudasa or Mitrasaha. One day the king went out hunting in the forest and saw two tigers there. He killed one these with his arrow and before dying, it adopted the form of a fierce rakshasa. The other tiger said, “I will have my revenge” and disappeared.

Some days later, King soudasa began a yajna. The priest for this yajna was the sage Vashishtha. Vashishtha finished his rituals and left. But the rakshasa adopted Vashishtha’s form and sat down in Vashishtha’s place. “At the end of the ceremony get me some rice and meat to eat,” he said. “I am returning in a short while.” Having said this, the rakshasa went away. But it adopted the form of a cook and cooked some human meat. Unknowingly, King Soudasa placed this meat in golden vessel and waited for Vashishtha’s return.

When Vashishtha sat down to eat he was served this meat. In a trice he realised that this was human meat, and he cursed that Soudasa would become a rakshasa. But through his mental powers Vashishtha also learnt that much of the trouble had been caused not by Soudasa, but by the rakshaas. So he reduced the duration of the curse such that soudasa would have to be a rakshasa only for twelve years.