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 incarnation).

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

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.

Durvasa, Rama and Lakshmana

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. At the time, Rama was having a private conversation with Yama (the god of death) disguised as an ascetic. Before the conversation began, Yama gave Rama strict instructions that their dialogue was to remain confidential and anyone who entered the room and saw or heard them was to be executed. Rama agreed and entrusted Lakshman with the duty of guarding his door and fulfilling his promise to Yama. Thus, when Durvasa made his demand, Lakshman politely asked the sage to wait until Rama had finished his meeting. The sage grew angry and threatened to curse all of Ayodhya if Lakshman did not immediately inform Rama of his arrival. Lakshman, in a dilemma, decided it would be better that he alone die to save all of Ayodhya from falling under Durvasa's curse and so interrupted Rama's meeting to inform him of the sage's arrival. Rama quickly concluded his meeting with Yama and received the sage with due courtesy. Durvasa told Rama of his desire to be fed and Rama fulfilled his guest's request, whereupon the satisfied sage went on his way. Rama was overcome with sorrow, for he did not want to kill his beloved brother, Lakshman. Still, he had given his word to Yama and could not go back on it. He called his advisers to help him resolve this quandary. On Vasishta's advice, he ordered Lakshman to leave him for good, since such abandonment was equivalent to death as far as the pious were concerned. Lakshman then went to the banks of the Sarayu, resolved on giving up the world through Yoga.

Durvasa and Kunti

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.

Durvasa Visits the Pandavas at the behest of Duryodhana

Another example of Durvasa's benevolent side is the incident when he granted Duryodhana a boon. During the Pandavas' exile, Durvasa and several disciples arrived at Hastinapura. Duryodhana with his maternal uncle Shakuni managed to gratify the sage. Durvasa was pleased enough to grant him a boon. Duryodhana, secretly wanting Durvasa to curse the Pandavas in anger, asked the sage to visit his cousins in the forest after Draupadi had eaten her meal, knowing that the Pandavas would then have nothing to feed him.

So Durvasa and his disciples visited the Pandavas in their hermitage in the forest, as per Duryodhana's request. During this period of exile, the Pandavas would obtain their food by means of the Akshaya Patra, which would become exhausted each day once Draupadi finished her meal. Because Draupadi had already eaten by the time Durvasa arrived that day, there was no food left to serve him and the Pandavas were very anxious as to their fate should they fail to feed such a venerable sage. While Durvasa and his disciples were away bathing at the river, Draupadi prayed to Krishna for help. Krishna immediately appeared before Draupadi saying he was extremely hungry and asked her for food. Draupadi grew exasperated and said she had prayed to Krishna precisely because she had no food left to give. Krishna then told her to bring the Akshaya Patra to him. When she did, he partook of the lone grain of rice and piece of vegetable that he found stuck to the vessel and announced that he was satisfied by the "meal". This satiated the hunger of Durvasa and his disciples, as the satisfaction of Krishna (the Supreme Being who pervades the entire universe) meant the satiation of the hunger of all living things. Sage Durvasa and his disciples then quietly left after their bath, without returning to the Pandavas' hermitage, for they were afraid of facing what they thought would be the Pandavas' wrathful reaction at their impolite behaviour of refusing the food that would be served to them.