page_title: Kalmashapada
section_title: Liberation from the curse and children
hierarchical_section_title: Kalmashapada / Liberation from the curse and children
caption_attribution_description: English: Rama is depicted blue-skinned and carrying a strung bow with a quiver full of arrows on his back and a single arrow in his right hand. On laid and water-marked European paper with a fleur de lys. This is elsewhere in the series dated 1816. Painted in South India (probably Thanjavur or Tiruchchirapalli)
context_page_description: In Hindu mythology, Kalmashapada, also known as Saudasa, Mitrasaha, Amitrasaha and Kalmashanghri, was a king of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who was cursed to be a rakshasa by the sage Vashishtha. He is described as an ancestor of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu and the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Many texts narrate how Kalmashapada was cursed to die if he had intercourse with his queen, so he obtained a son from Vashishtha by niyoga, an ancient tradition whereby a husband can nominate another man to impregnate his wife. Kalmashapada's story is narrated in various works including the classic epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the Puranas.
context_section_description: The Mahabharata narrates that Vashishtha meets Kalmashapada at the end of the 12-year period and frees the king of the curse. The king returns to his original form and accepts the sage as his guru and purohita (priest). Both of them return to Ayodhya. However, Kalmashapada is still heirless and cannot unite with his wife in coitus due to the Brahmin widow's curse. The king requests Vashishtha to inseminate Madayanti, following the practice of niyoga. The queen becomes pregnant by the sage but does not deliver for 12 years. Finally, the frustrated queen breaks her womb with a stone and her son is born. Since the son is born with the aid of a stone (Ashman), he is named Ashmaka ("the child born of a stone"). The Mahabharata adds that this act of "giving" his wife to a Brahmin helps Kalmashapada attain heaven.
  A central character of the epic, King Pandu, who is cursed to die upon having sex with his wife, convinces his wife Kunti to have niyoga with the gods and mother children for him, citing the example of Kalmashapada. The scholar Meyer suggests that the tale of Pandu may be inspired by the much older narrative of Kalmashapada.
  Other texts agree that Vashishtha ends Kalmashapada's curse; however, there is some variation. In the Bhagavata Purana, Vashishtha himself strikes the queen's belly with a stone after seven years to free the child. The Vishnu Purana credits the queen for opening her own womb, but the period is seven years.
  All texts agree that Kalmashapada is an ancestor of Dasharatha and his divine son Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. The names of Kalmashapada's children and the number of generations between Kalmashapada and Dasharatha varies. The Vishnu Purana, the Vayu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana, the Kurma Purana, and the Linga Purana contain a few variations of the names. According to them, Ashmaka was the son of Kalmashapada, and nine generations lie between Kalmashapada and Dasharatha. The Matsya Purana, the Agni Purana, the Brahma Purana, and the Harivamsa call Kalmashapada's son Sarvakarma (who is said to be the grandfather of Kalmashapada in the Vishnu Purana, et al.), but agree as to the number of generations with the Vishnu Purana, et al. The Ramayana identifies the son as Shankhana and states that ten generations lie between Kalmashapada and Dasharatha.
caption: Rama is a descendant of Kalmashapada.
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