Sant Durvasa Rishi
Sant Durvasa Rishi
Durvasa
Durvasa (Sanskrit: दुर्वासा) also known as Durvasas (Sanskrit: दुर्वासस्), was an ancient Rishi, the son of Atri and Anasuya. He is known for his short temper. Hence, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence from humans and devas alike.
According to local tradition in modern Azamgarh, Durvasa’s Ashram or hermitage, where many disciples used to go to study under him, was situated in the area, at the confluence of the Tons River and Majhuee rivers, 6 km north of the Phulpur Tehsil headquarters.According to Chapter 44 of the Brahmananda Purana, Brahma and Shiva once got into a heated quarrel. So violent was Shiva’s rage as a result of this quarrel, that the Devas fled from his presence in fear.
His consort, Parvati, complained that Shiva was now impossible to live with.
Realising the disharmony his anger had caused, he decided to deposit this anger into Anasuya, the wife of sage Atri. From this portion of Shiva deposited into Anasuya, a child was born, who was named ‘Durvasa’ (lit. one who is difficult to live with). Because he was born of Shiva’s anger, he had an irascible nature.
The Bhagavata Purana gives a somewhat different account of Durvasa’s birth. In this version, Atri performed severe penance to propitiate the Supreme Being in order to obtain a son by Anasuya who would be just like Him. Pleased with him, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva blessed the sage that portions of themselves would be born as his sons. In due course, Anasuya bore Soma (Brahma’s incarnation), Dattatreya (Vishnu’s incarnation) and Durvasa (Shiva’s incarnationation, Shri SukhSagar.
Role In The Churning Of The Ocean
In Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana and Padma Purana, a curse that Durvasa laid upon Indra is described as the indirect reason for the famous churning of the ocean. The Srimad Bhagavata and Agni Purana also mention Durvasa’s involvement in the episode in passing, without going into the details. Other sources for this story, such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Harivamsa and Matsya Purana, do not mention Durvasa’s involvement at all and ascribe the incident to other causes, such as the Devas’ and Asuras’ desire for immortality.
The story in the Vishnu Purana goes that Durvasa, while wandering the earth in a state of ecstasy due to a vow he was observing, came by a Vidyadhari (a nymph of the air) and demanded of her a heavenly wreath of flowers she was wearing. The nymph respectfully gave the garland to the sage, whereupon he wore it on his brow. Resuming his wanderings, the sage came across Indra riding his elephant, Airavata, attended by the gods. Durvasa, still in his state of frenzy, threw the garland at Indra, who caught it and placed it on Airavata’s head. The elephant was irritated by the fragrance of the nectar in the flowers, so it threw the garland to the ground with its trunk. Durvasa was enraged to see his gift treated so callously and cursed Indra that he would be cast down from his position of dominion over the three worlds, just as the garland was cast down. Indra immediately begged Durvasa’s forgiveness, but the sage refused to retract or even soften his curse and went on his way. Because of the curse, Indra and the Devas were diminished in strength and shorn of their lustre. Seizing this opportunity, the asuras led by Bali waged war against the Devas. The Devas were routed and turned to Brahma for help. Brahma directed them to seek refuge with Vishnu. Vishnu in turn, advised them to call a truce with the Asuras and work together with them to churn Kshira Sagar, the ocean of milk and obtain the Amrita (nectar of immortality), on the pretext of sharing it with them. Vishnu promised that he would ensure only the Devas drank Amrita and reobtain their former power so they could once again defeat the Asuras. The Devas took Vishnu’s advice and called their truce with the asuras and thus did the Devas and Asuras begin planning their great enterprise.
Meeting With Ambarisha
In the Bhagavata Purana, Ambarisha was a great devotee of Vishnu who adhered firmly to the truth. He performed a Yajna with such great devotional fervour that Narayana was pleased to bless him with his Sudarshana Chakra (“Sudarshana” meaning “good-looking” or “beautiful”), as a shield of protection over him. Once, Ambarisha performed a religious rite known as the Ekadashi and Dvadashi Vrata, for 1 year (i.e. the king would fast on the 11th day of every half lunar month and break his fast the next day). After observing this practice for a year, he took up a final fast of 3 days and nights to conclude the rite. As the moment for breaking this fast drew near, sage Durvasa arrived where Ambarisha was and the king received him with due respect. Durvasa agreed to the king’s request to be his honoured guest and asked the king to wait until he had finished his bath in the river Yamuna. The auspicious moment soon arrived when the king had to break his fast to fulfill his vow, but Durvasa had not yet returned from his bath. Ambarisha was in a dilemma, as, on the one hand, it was impolite to take food before serving a guest, but on the other, the time had come for the fast to be broken. After consulting his priests, the king broke his fast by taking a sip of water and awaited Durvasa’s arrival to offer him food.
Durvasa felt that Ambarisha had violated the respect due to a guest by breaking his fast before the guest had taken his meal and in his rage created a demon to kill Ambarisha, out of a strand of his hair. Narayana’s Sudarshana Chakra intervened, destroyed the demon and started chasing Durvasa himself. Durvasa went to Brahma and Shiva for protection. Both pleaded their inability to save him. Durvasa next went to Narayana himself, who said that he could do nothing as he was bound by the blemishless devotion of Ambarisha and suggested that the sage seek the king’s pardon. Durvasa took this advice and returned to Ambarisha, who prayed to Vishnu to recall the Sudarshana and save the sage, whereby the discus ceased to afflict him.
In the Uttara Kanda of Valmiki’s Ramayana, Durvasa appears at Rama’s doorstep and seeing Lakshmana guarding the door, demands an audience with Rama.
In the Mahabharata, Durvasa is known for granting boons to those who had pleased him, particularly when he had been served well as an honoured guest. An example of such behaviour is the episode between him and Kunti, the future wife of Pandu and the mother of the Pandavas. When Kunti was a young girl, she lived in the house of her adopted father, Kuntibhoja. Durvasa visited Kuntibhoja one day and sought his hospitality. The king entrusted the sage to his daughter’s care and tasked Kunti with the responsibility of entertaining the sage and meeting all his needs during his stay with them. Kunti patiently put up with Durvasa’s temper and his unreasonable requests (such as demanding food at odd hours of the night) and served the sage with great dedication. Eventually, the sage was gratified. Before departing, he rewarded Kunti by teaching her the Atharvaveda mantras, which enables a woman to invoke any god of her choice to beget children by them. Curious and skeptical, Kunti decided to test the mantra.
After invoking Surya, the son god, she bore her first son, Karna. Fearing the fate of an unwed mother, she placed the newborn in a basket and set him afloat down a river. The infant Karna was later found and raised by Adhiratha, a charioteer for the monarch of Hastinapur, and his wife Radha. Soon after this episode, Kunti was married to Pandu, the king of Hastinapur, and, by invoking those same mantras taught to her by Durvasa, she bore the three eldest of Pandu’s five sons. Karna would go on to become an accomplished warrior and a formidable adversary of the Pandavas. This enmity would eventually culminate in his death on the battlefield of Kurukshetra at the hands of Arjuna, his younger brother, who was unaware of their fraternal bond.
Source – vyasaonline
