According to Hindu legend, it happened long ago that two sages, Vishwamitra and Vasistha, had differences of opinion. Both were of great spiritual wisdom; Vishwamitra composed a significant portion of the Rigveda, including the highly revered Gayatri Mantra, and when Lord Vishnu incarnated as Rama, some sources say he became his guru. Vasistha also composed a portion of the Rigveda, as well as some of the Puranas, and according to other sources, also taught Lord Rama. With so much power and insight, we might expect that they would live in harmony, but many stories are told of their disputes.

One of these was about which path was greater, the path of austerities, or the path of the company of saints. Vishwamitra said that severe disciplines conferred the most power, but Vasistha disagreed. Unable to settle the matter, they appealed to Lord Vishnu to judge between them. Vishnu told them they would learn the answer if they would pay a visit to Adi Shesha, the great serpent.

The two sages went to Adi Shesha who had long ago taken a service at the request of Lord Vishnu to hold the unstable world steady upon his great hood. They presented the Serpent king with their question, and he replied that to answer them, they must lift the world from his hood so that he was free to talk.

Then Vishwamitra declared that, owing to the great power he had accumulated through countless ages of austerities, he would lift the world – but when he tried, the world did not move.

After that, Vasistha, whose merit came from a few moments in the company of the saints, tried to lift the world, and it rested upon his shoulders like a feather.

“Thus,” said Adi Shesha, “you have your answer. Austerities confer great power, but in the company of the saints, the weight of the world becomes nothing.”