998 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 19

the power of his spiritual achievements. He picked a quarrel with Vasistha
Muni when he was a ksatriya king and performed a great sacrifice in
cooperation with Matanga Muni and thus was able to vanquish the sons of
Vasistha. He became a great yogi, and yet he failed to check his senses and
thus was obliged to become the father of Sakuntala, the beauty queen of
world history. Once, when he was a ksatriya king, he visited the hermitage
of Vasistha Muni, and he was given a royal reception. Visvamitra wanted
from Vasistha a cow named Nandini, and the Muni refused to deliver it.
He stole the cow, and thus there was a quarrel between the sage and the
King. Visvamitra was defeated by the spiritual strength of Vasistha, and
thus the King decided to become a brahmana. Before becoming a brah-
mana he underwent severe austerity on the bank of the Kausika. He was
also one who tried to stop the Kuruksetra war.

Angira: He is one of the six mental sons of Brahma and the father of
Brhaspati, the great learned priest of the demigods in the heavenly planets.
He is born of the semen of Brahmaji given to a cinder of fire. Utthato and
Samvarta are his sons. Jt is said that he is still performing austerity and
chanting the holy name of the Lord at a place known as Alokananda on
the banks of the Ganges.

Utathya: One of the three sons of Maharsi Angira. He was the spiritual
master of Maharaja Mandhata. He married Bhadra, the daughter of Soma
(Moon). Varuna kidnapped his wife Bhadra, and to retaliate the offense of
the god of water, he drank all the water of the world.

Medhatithi: An old sage of yore. An assembly member of the heavenly
King Indradeva. His son was Kanva Muni, who brought up Sakuntala in
the forest. He was promoted to the heavenly planet by strictly following
the principles of retired life (vanaprastha).

Devala: A great authority like Narada Muni and Vyasadeva. His good
name is on the list of authorities mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita when
Arjuna acknowledged Lord Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
He met Maharaja Yudhisthira after the Battle of Kuruksetra, and he is the
elder brother of Dhaumya, the priest of the Pandava family. Like the
ksatriyas, he also allowed his daughter to select her own husband in a
svayamvara meeting, and at that ceremony all the bachelor sons of the
rsis were invited. According to some, he is not Asita Devala.

Gautama: One of the seven great sages of the universe. Saradvan
Gautama is one of his sons. Persons in the Gautama-gotra (dynasty) today
are either his family descendants or in his disciplic succession. The
brahmanas who profess Gautama-gotra are generally family descendants,
and the ksatriyas and vaisyas who profess Gautama-gotra are ail in the line
