читать дальше My thoughts exactly. *** answered this question somewhat - in Balkand, the story of how Vishwamitra went from a King to a Brahmarshi is given in good detail - and during that story, he delayed every promotion he got - Rajarshi, Maharshi and finally Brahmarshi - by cursing a lot of people - Vashishtha's sons for refusing to attend his yagna for Trishanku, Rambha for seducing him and throwing a fit when the devas refused to recognize the alternate planetary system he created to rival theirs for spiteing him over Trishanku. He somehow held his temper w/ Maneka, who seduced him and w/ who he begat Shakuntala (therefore, she was born long before Rama was, although whether she married Dushyant in Treta yuga or Dwapar yuga is another question). Finally, he had to demonstrate that he had conquered all anger when he became a Brahmarshi. Notwithstanding, his temper tantrum at Dasharath for balking at parting w/ Rama was uncalled for.
However, aside from that, in his post Brahmarshi life, he rarely lost his temper - one rare occasion was the incident w/ Samba's cross-dressing. *** brought up a good point about Shakuntala, and what's more - if he was going to in one night flip over and praise Rama to the skies for exiling Sita, why lose your marbles over her exile in the first place?
I have another question. Vishwamitra's temper is one thing. Does it seem likely that Rama, who generally was dedicated to dharma, would decide to end the life of another person for merely a slight - that too unintended - just because a Brahmin throws a temper tantrum? Was it so important to placate rishis that even lives of innocent people who Rishis were riled at was fair game?
This is another of those stories I just can't believe. Pretty much in the same league as the ones that have Rama asking Lakshman to abandon Sita in the middle of the forest, cut off her hand/ear, et al.