and reduces him to ashes with a burst
of flame from his third eye. Despite
being destroyed, in the end Kama is
successful—after being awakened,
Shiva becomes aware of Parvati’s
asceticpractice and eventually becomes
her husband.
Vashitvam
(“control”) One of the eight superhuman
powers (siddhi) traditionally believed to
be conferred by high spiritual attain-
ment. This particular power gives one
the ability to control others, while
remaining free from outside control.
Vasishtha
In Hindu mythology, one of the Seven
Sages whose names mark exogamous
clan “lineages” (gotra; in exogamous
groups members must marry outside
the group); the others are Gautama,
Bharadvaja, Kashyapa, Bhrgu, Atri, and
Vishvamitra. All brahminsare believed
to be descended from these seven sages,
with each family taking the name of its
progenitor as its gotra name. In modern
times, these gotra divisions are still
important, since marriage within the
gotra is forbidden. After her marriage,
the new bride adopts her husband’s
gotra as part of her new identity.
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the
two great Hindu epics, Vasishtha is a
very powerful sage who is the guruto
the kings of the Solar dynasty, including
King Dasharathaand his son, Rama.
Vasishtha is also famous for his long-
standing feud with the sage
Vishvamitra, which causes numerous
confrontations. The feud’s genesis is
ultimately rooted in the difference in
status between kshatriyas and brah-
mins. Vishvamitra is a king who stops
with a host of retainers at the forest
ashramof the brahmin Vasishtha. Upon
asking for food, Vishvamitra is amazed
at the ability of Vasishtha’s cow, the
Kamadhenu, to provide food for every-
one. Vishvamitra first tries to buy the
Kamadhenu, then tries to take it by
force, but his minions are defeated by
the magic powers generated by
Vasishtha’s tapas (ascetic practices).
Vishvamitra finally admits defeat and
begins to do ascetic practices to gen-
erate power of his own. Two of their
most celebrated clashes are over King
Trishankuand his son, Harishchandra;
in each case the real issue is the mutual
antipathy of these two sages. See also
marriage prohibitions.Vastra
(“clothing”) The seventh of the sixteen
traditional upacharas (“offerings”)
given to a deityas part of worship, on
the model of treating the deity as an
honored guest. In this offering, the deity
is offered clothing, either through sym-
bolic presentation or through physically
dressing the image. The underlying
motive here, as for all the upacharas, is
to show one’s love for the deity and min-
ister to the deity’s needs.Vastradhari
(“wearing the clothes”) Name for a
newly initiated Sanyasi ascetic, one who
has put on the ascetic robes, but still has
to undergo a period of training as a dis-
ciple to his guru.Vasudeva
The god Krishna’s father. His most
important role in Krishna’s mythology
comes on the night of Krishna’s birth,
when Vasudeva is able to spirit
the infant Krishna out of prison, his
birthplace, to the home of his foster
parents, Nandaand Yashoda. Vasudeva
returns that night, bearing Yashoda’s
newborn girl, who is really the
goddess Bhadrakali in disguise. The
next morning Kamsakills the child
by dashing it against a stone, but
from the body arises the goddess, who
taunts Kamsa that the person who will
slay him has escaped.Vashitvam