Durvasa

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In Hinduism, Durvasa is an ancient sage, who was known for his short temper. Maledictions or curses he gave in his rage (known as Shapa) ruined many lives. Hence, wherever he went, he received great reverence from humans and Gods alike. For example, in Abigyāna Shakuntala, written by Kalidasa he curses the maiden Shakuntala that her lover will forget her.

[edit] Confrontation with Ambarisha

The confrontation of sage Durvasa with Ambarisha is a very famous story in Shrimad Bhagavatam. Ambarisha was a great devotee of Vishnu and adhered firmly to the truth. He performed a Yaga with such great devotional fervour that Lord Narayana was pleased to bless him with Sudarshana Chakra (Sudarshana meaning "good vision") and which manifested as a wheel of prosperity, peace and security to his kingdom. Once, when Ambarisha performed the Dvadasi Vratha, which required that the king must start a fast on Ekadashi and break it at the start of Dvadasi and feed all the people. As the moment of breaking the fast was drawing near, the mighty sage Durvasa arrived and was received with all honours by Ambarisha. Durvasa agreed to the king's request to be his honoured guest, and asked the king to wait till he finished his bath in the river and returned. As the auspicious moment approached when the king had to break his fast to fulfil the vow of the vratha, Durvasa did not turn up. On the advice of the sage Vasishta, the king broke his fast by taking a Tulasi leaf with water, and waited for the arrival of sage Durvasa to offer him food.

Durvasa, who was well known for his short temper, 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. Lord Narayana’s Sudarshana intervened, destroyed the demon and started chasing Durvasa himself. Durvasa went to Brahma and Shiva for protection. Both pleaded their inability to save him. He went to Lord Narayana himself, who said that he could do nothing as he was bound by the blemishless devotion of Ambarisha and suggested to the sage to seek the pardon of the king. Durvasa went to Ambarisha, who prayed to Lord Vishnu to recall the Sudarsana and save Durvasa.

[edit] Durvasa in Mahabharata

In Mahabharata, during the exile of the Pandavas, Durvasa turns up with several disciples at the place where the Pandavas were staying. During this period, the Pandavas obtained their food by means of the Akshaya Patra, which would become exhausted for the day once Draupadi finished her meal. When Durvasa arrived there was no food left to serve him, and the Pandavas were very anxious as to what would be their fate if they failed to feed such a venerable sage. While Durvasa and his disciples were away at the banks of the river bathing, Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna for help. As always, they were once again saved by Him, who visited them, and partook of a lone morsel of rice from the Akshaya Patra and announced that He was satisfied by the meal. This satiated the hunger of Durvasa and all his disciples too, as the satisfaction of Lord Krishna meant the satiation of the hunger of the whole Universe. The sage and his disciples then left, blessing the Pandavas.

But on the other hand he was also famous for his boons if he grew happy with someone. An example in this context would be the boon he gave to Kunti, wife of Pandu and mother of the mighty Pandavas which enabled her to call or invoke any god of her choice. It was by the use of this mantra which Durvasa gave her that she was able to call the following gods:

[edit] References

The Mahabharata by Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa
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