In
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
scriptures, Durvasa ( sa, दुर्वासा, ) also known as Durvasas (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: दुर्वासस्), is a legendary
rishi (sage). He is the son of
Anasuya
Anasuya () is an ascetic, and the wife of Sage Atri in Hinduism. She is the daughter of Devahuti and Sage Kardama in Hindu texts. In the ''Ramayana'', she lives with her husband in a small hermitage on the southern border of the Chitrakuta f ...
and
Atri
Atri ( sa, अत्रि) or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous hymns to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the on ...
. According to some
Puranas, Durvasa is a partial avatar of
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
, known for his short temper. Wherever he goes, he is received with great reverence by humans and
devas alike.
Curses and boons
The rishi Durvasa, being short-tempered, is said to have both cursed and gifted boons to several notable deities and people in the Hindu scriptures. Some of them include:
Curses
#
Indra, whom he cursed to lose all his powers, after Indra's elephant
Airavata
Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi riding the five-headed Divine Elephant Airavata, Folio from a Jain text, Panch Kalyanaka">Shachi.html" ;"title="Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi">Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi riding the five-headed Divine Elepha ...
threw down a rather fragrant garland given by Durvasa to Indra.
#
Saraswati
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a g ...
, whom he cursed to be born as a human because she laughed at his incorrect recitation of the Vedas.
#
Rukmini
Rukmini ( sa, रुक्मिणी, , ) is a Hindu goddess and the first queen and chief wife of Krishna. In Vaishnava tradition, she is described as Krishna's principal queen in Dvaraka, as well as the chief of his wives. She is an in ...
, whom he cursed to be separated from her husband, Krishna, because she drank water without seeking Durvasa's permission.
#
Shakuntala, who avoided Durvasa while at the ashrama (hermitage) of sage Kanva, which enraged Durvasa rishi, who cursed her that
Dushyanta
Dushyanta ( sa, दुष्यन्त, translit=Duṣyanta) is a king of the Chandravamsha (Lunar) dynasty featured in Hindu literature. He is the husband of Shakuntala and the father of Bharata. He appears in the Mahabharata and in Kalidas ...
would forget her. Durvasa later clarified that Dushyanta would remember her when she presented his ring (that he had previously given to her) to him.
# Kandali, his wife, whom he cursed to be reduced to a heap of dust for excessively quarrelling with him.
#Bhanumati, the daughter of Banu, the erstwhile leader of the
Yadavas. Bhanumati provoked Durvasa while playing at the garden of
Raivata, and in response, Durvasa cursed her. She, later in life, is abducted by the Danava Nikumbha. However, Durvasa clarified (after being pacified) that no harm would come to Bhanumati, and that she would be saved go on to marry the
Pandava
The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...
Sahadeva.
Boons
#
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
, whom he blessed with partial invulnerability. The
Anushasana Parva
Anushasana Parva ( sa, अनुशासन पर्व, IAST: Anuśāsanaparva) or the "Book of Instructions", is the thirteenth of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. It traditionally has 2 parts and 168 chapters.Ganguli, K.M. (18 ...
, as related by Krishna to his son
Pradyumna
Pradyumna ( sa, प्रद्युम्न) is the eldest son of the Hindu deities Krishna and his chief consort, Rukmini. He is considered to be one of the four vyuha avatars of Vishnu. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Pradyumna was ...
details the incident when Durvasa visited Krishna at
Dvaraka, and requested that Krishna smear his own body with the
payasam
Kheer, also known as payasam, is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur w ...
remaining after Durvasa had eaten. Krishna complied with this, and Durvasa blessed him with invulnerability in those parts of his body that he covered with the payasam, noting that Krishna never smeared the soles of his feet with it. Krishna would die years after the events of the
Kurukshetra war by an arrow to his foot shot by a hunter who mistook it for a deer.
#
Kunti, whom he taught
mantras capable of summoning a
deva to beget children.
Karna
Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the ...
is born to Kunti, and later the five Pandava brothers are born of Kunti's and her co-wife
Madri
In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Madri is the princess of Madra Kingdom and the second wife of the king Pandu. She is the mother of the youngest Pandavas - the twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva. The word ''Mādrī'' means 'woman of Madra'.
...
's use of the mantras.
Origin
According to Chapter 44 of the
Brahmanda Purana,
Brahma and
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
got into a heated quarrel. Shiva became violently enraged when the devas fled from his presence in fear. His consort,
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
, complained that Shiva is now impossible to live with. Realizing the chaos his anger had caused, Shiva deposited this anger into
Anasuya
Anasuya () is an ascetic, and the wife of Sage Atri in Hinduism. She is the daughter of Devahuti and Sage Kardama in Hindu texts. In the ''Ramayana'', she lives with her husband in a small hermitage on the southern border of the Chitrakuta f ...
, the wife of sage
Atri
Atri ( sa, अत्रि) or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous hymns to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the on ...
. From this portion of Shiva deposited into Anasuya, a child is born, named 'Durvasa' (lit. ''one who is difficult to live with''). Because he is born of Shiva's anger, he had an irascible nature.
[The Vishnu Purana - translated by Horace Hayman Wilson(1840)]
Samudra Manthana
In
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus.
The manusc ...
,
Vayu Purana, and the
Padma Purana
The ''Padma Purana'' ( sa, पद्मपुराण or पाद्मपुराण, or ) is one of the eighteen Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Bra ...
, a curse that Durvasa laid upon
Indra is described as the indirect reason for the
Samudra Manthana
The Samudra Manthana ( sa, समुद्रमन्थन; ) is a major episode in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a major text of Hinduism. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita.
Nom ...
. The
Srimad Bhagavata
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...
and
Agni Purana also mention Durvasa's involvement in the episode, without going into detail. Other sources for this story, such as
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
,
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
,
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.
According to a story in the
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus.
The manusc ...
, Durvasa, while wandering the earth in a state of ecstasy due to a vow he is observing, came by a ''Vidyadhari'' (nymph of the air) and demanded her heavenly wreath of flowers. The nymph respectfully gave the garland to the sage, whereupon he wore it on his brow. Resuming his wanderings, the Durvasa came across Indra riding his elephant,
Airavata
Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi riding the five-headed Divine Elephant Airavata, Folio from a Jain text, Panch Kalyanaka">Shachi.html" ;"title="Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi">Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi riding the five-headed Divine Elepha ...
, attended by the gods. Still, in his state of frenzy, Durvasa threw the garland at Indra, who caught it and placed it on Airavata's head. The elephant is irritated by the fragrance of the nectar in the flowers, so it threw the garland to the ground with its trunk.
Durvasa is 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 is cast down. Indra immediately begged Durvasa's forgiveness, but the sage refused to retract or soften his curse. Because of the curse, Indra and the devas were diminished in strength and stripped of their lustre. Seizing this opportunity, the
asura
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...
s led by
Bali waged war against the gods.
The gods were routed and turned to
Brahma for help. Brahma directed them to seek refuge with
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
. Vishnu, in turn, advised them to call a truce with the asuras ,and help them churn the
ocean of milk to obtain the
amrita (nectar of immortality), on the pretext of sharing it with them. Vishnu promised that only the devas would drink the nectar to regain 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 the gods and demons began planning their great enterprise.
Ramayana
In the
Uttara Kanda
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
of
Valmiki
Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributio ...
's
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
, Durvasa appeared at
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
's doorstep and, seeing
Lakshmana guarding the door, demanded an audience with Rama. Meanwhile, Rama was having a private conversation with
Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...
(the god of death), disguised as an ascetic. Before the conversation, Yama gave Rama strict instructions that their dialogue is to remain confidential, and anyone who entered the room is to be executed. Rama agreed and entrusted Lakshmana with the duty of guarding his door and fulfilling his promise to Yama.
Hence, when Durvasa made his demand, Lakshmana politely asked the sage to wait until Rama had finished his meeting. Durvasa grew angry, and threatened to curse all of
Ayodhya
Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...
if Lakshmana did not immediately inform Rama of his arrival. Lakshmana, 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 is filled with sorrow, for he did not want to kill his beloved brother, Lakshmana. 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
Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha an ...
's advice, he ordered Lakshmana to leave him for good, since such abandonment is equivalent to death, as far as the pious were concerned. Lakshmana then went to the banks of the
Sarayu, and resolved on giving up the world by drowning himself in the
Sarayu river.
Mahabharata
In the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
, Durvasa is known for granting boons to those who 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
The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...
. When Kunti is a young girl, she lived in the house of her adopted father,
Kuntibhoja
The ''Mahabharata'' is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India; it was composed by the sage Vyasa. The most important characters of ''Mahabharata'' can be said to include: Krishna; the Pandavas Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakul ...
. 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. 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 is gratified. Before departing, he rewarded Kunti by teaching her the
Atharvaveda mantra
A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...
s, 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.
[The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli(1883–1896)]
After invoking
Surya, the sun god, she bore her first son,
Karna
Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the ...
. Fearing the fate of an unmarried mother, she placed the newborn in a basket and set him afloat down a river. The infant Karna is later found and raised by
Adhiratha, a charioteer for the monarch of
Hastinapura, and his wife, Radha. Soon after this episode, Kunti is 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 half-brother, who is unaware of their fraternal bond.
Apart from his hair-trigger anger, Durvasa is also known for his extraordinary boons. According to the
Shiva Purana, once while bathing in a river, Durvasa's clothes were carried away by the river's currents. Seeing this,
Draupadi, who is nearby, gave her own clothes to the sage. Durvasa blessed her by saying that she would never lack clothes at the time of requirement, and it is due to his blessing that the
Kauravas
''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his w ...
were unable to strip off her clothes in the gambling hall, thus protecting her modesty.
[Was Draupadi Ever Disrobed? - by Pradip Bhattacharya (taken from the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vol. 86, 2005, printed in 2006)]
Another example of Durvasa's benevolent side is the incident when he granted
Duryodhana a boon. During the Pandavas's exile, Durvasa and several disciples arrived at
Hastinapura. Duryodhana with his maternal uncle
Shakuni managed to gratify the sage. Durvasa is 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.
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
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
for help.
Krishna immediately appeared before Draupadi, announcing that he was 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 a 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 (An avatar of Vishnu himself) 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
Pandava
The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...
s's hermitage, for they were afraid of facing what they thought would be the Pandavas's wrath at their impolite behaviour of refusing the food that would be served to them.
Swaminarayan Hinduism
According to the followers of
Swaminarayan Hinduism, Narayana took birth as the saint
Swaminarayan due to a curse by Durvasa. The story goes that shortly after
Krishna's passing,
Uddhava proceeded to
Badrinath
Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. ...
, the abode of
Nara-Narayana
Naranarayana (), also rendered Nara-Narayana, is a Hindu duo of sage-brothers. Generally regarded to be the partial-incarnation (aṃśa-avatara) of the preserver deity, Vishnu, on earth, Nara-Narayana are described to be the sons of Dharma ...
. He joined the many divine sages and saints who were there listening to Nara-Narayana's discourses. As Nara is speaking, Durvasa arrived at the assembly from
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...
, but no one noticed him because they were all so engrossed in the discourse.
[Swaminarayan Satsang: Portal of Swaminarayan - Under Shree Nar Narayan Dev Mandir Bhuj, a]
/ref>
He waited for one Hindu units of measurement, ghadi (about half an hour), for someone to welcome him with the respect he felt he is entitled to, but still, no one realized that he was there. Seeing no one rise to receive him, he took this as an insult, and cursed the entire assembly, saying that they would all be born as humans and suffer insults and agony from the wicked. Nara-Narayana's parents, the god Dharma and goddess Bhakti, pacified Durvasa, who then reduced his curse, saying that Narayana himself (represented here as the Supreme Being) would be born as Dharma and Bhakti's son, and that his birth would relieve them all from the clutches of evil. Proclaiming thus, Durvasa made his way back to Kailasha.[
Dharma and Bhakti were eventually born as Hariprasad Pande (a.k.a. Dharmadev) and Premvati Pande( a.k.a. Bhaktidevi). Narayana is born as their son, named Ghanshyam, who is now known as Swaminarayan. The story is limited to Swaminarayan Hinduism, and no other Hindu scriptures support the tale.][The website of the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul, Rajkot, at]
/ref>
Temple
In Azamgarh, a site of pilgrimage is named Durvasa where the temple of Durvasa is located. As per the priest of the temple, Durvasa took samadhi at this place in a shiva linga.
In popular culture
Indian filmmaker Shree Nath Patankar made ''Durvas Shaap'' (''Curse of Durvasa''), a silent film about the sage in 1923.
References
{{HinduMythology
Rishis
Characters in the Mahabharata