Prithu decided to conduct a hundred Ashwamedha yagnas or horse sacrifices in order to establish his domination over other kings. So far the only person to have conducted a hundred Ashwamedha yagnas was Indra, the king of the Devas. He did not want to share this honor with anyone. He did not interfere in the ninety-nine sacrifices hoping that something would go wrong. But when Prithu started the hundredth sacrifice Indra decided it was time for action.
Indra turned invisible and stole the sacrificial horse. Later dressed as a sadhu he took the horse into outer space. The sage Atri, who was conducting the sacrifice, realized what was happening. Atri instructed Prithu’s son to follow Indra and kill him. Prithu’s son saw Indra in the form of a sadhu and did not release his arrows. Atri again instructed Prithu’s son to kill Indra, explaining the appearance Indra had taken was just a ploy. This time Indra realized that Prithu’s son meant business and so he abandoned the horse and escaped. Prithu’s son returned with the horse and the proceedings resumed. Prithu’s son was named Vijitashwa or the “one who won the horse”.
But Indra stole the horse again, this time under cover of an artificial darkness created by him. Again the same story was repeated, with Indra abandoning the horse and making his escape. When this happened several times King Prithu got very angry, not only because Indra was disrupting his sacrifice but also because Indra was adopting the disguises of holy persons in order to delude his son. It is said that it was these acts of Indra that started the custom of con men appearing as holy persons to fool the public. He decided to kill Indra himself.
But the priests advised him not to incur such a sin and reduce the merits he had earned. They said that they would chant very powerful mantras that will force Indra to come to the sacrifice and then cast him into the sacrificial fire. Just as the priests were about to start reciting the mantras, Brahma descended to the sacrificial area and stopped them. He thus addressed the august body, “Indra has done wrong in trying to stop the sacrifice. He has also done wrong in adopting the disguises of holy men. But Indra is a part of the system that maintains the balance between good and evil. Without Indra and the demi-Gods evil would overrun the earth. In this very sacrifice you are invoking the demi-Gods on one hand and want to kill Indra, their leader, on the other.”
Brahma then turned to Prithu and said, “Both you and Indra are manifestations of the Supreme God. Please stop at ninety-nine sacrifices and let Indra be pleased to have conducted more sacrifices than you. You have already done so much good and are following the path of virtue therefore be assured that you will receive the benefits of conducting hundred sacrifices without actually completing the last one.”
Prithu heeded the advice given by Brahma. He requested the priests to perform the rituals required to bring the sacrifice to a close. In this manner he earned the goodwill of all and became even more famous and loved.
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