SAGEDURVASA-Part 2 Dearfriends, This posting about sage Durvasa is compiled from Googlesearch asking many questions curious to me and posted in my style which isdesired by a few members than as QA posting.
This posting is least intended to all knowing andcriticizing and fault finding members. Hope the posting is interesting and informative to many of myfriends. Since the information is lengthy posted in parts. This is 2nd part of theposting Gopalakrishnan 15-02-2026 Sage Lived throughyugas. Durvasa was a sage Lived through Sathya, Thretha yuga andDwapara yugas. I am listing below few incidents happened during in these years.The rishi Durvasa, being short-tempered, is said to have both cursed and giftedboons to several notable deities and people in the Hindu scriptures. I willstart with Sathya Yuga. Sathya yuga incidents Sage Durvasa, an incarnation of Lord Shiva known for hisfiery temper, played a significant role in several foundational mythologicalevents, particularly the transition of power in the cosmic order, which istraditionally associated with the earlier, more divine periods or the onset ofevents leading to the churning of the ocean. The most prominentincidents involving Sage Durvasa during the Satya Yuga (or associated Puranictales leading to the Churning of the Ocean) include: The Curse to Indraand the Churning of the Ocean (Samudra Manthan): In the Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, and Padma Purana, Durvasacursed Indra, the king of the gods. Durvasa, having received a divine garlandof flowers from a nymph (or from Brahma, as mentioned in some versions), giftedit to Indra. Indra, in a state of arrogance, placed it on his elephant,Airavata, which then threw it on the ground and trampled it. Enraged by thisdisrespect to his gift, Durvasa cursed Indra andall the Devas to lose their strength, wealth, and power. This led to the gods being weakened, allowing the Asuras toconquer them, ultimately triggering the need for the Churning of the Milky Ocean (Samudra Manthan) toregain their power. In Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, and the Padma Purana, a cursethat Durvasa laid upon Indra is described as the indirect reason for theSamudra Manthana. The Srimad Bhagavata and Agni Purana also mention Durvasa'sinvolvement in the episode, without going into detail. However sources forthis story, such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Harivamsa, and Matsya Purana, do notmention 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, Durvasa, whilewandering 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 nymphrespectfully gave the garland to the sage, whereupon he wore it on his brow. Resuming hiswanderings, the Durvasa came across Indra riding his elephant, Airavata,attended by the gods. Still, in his state of frenzy, Durvasa threw the garland at Indra, who caught itand placed it on Airavata's head. The elephant is irritated by thefragrance of the nectar in the flowers, so it threw the garland to the groundwith its trunk. My note- I have read elsewhereDurvasa gave the garland to Indra, not throwing Durvasa is enraged to see his gift treated so callously andcursed Indra that he would be cast down from his position of dominion over thethree worlds, just as the garland is cast down. Indraimmediately begged Durvasa's forgiveness, but the sagerefused to retract or soften his curse. Because of the curse, Indra and the Devaswere diminished in strength and stripped of their lustre. Seizing thisopportunity, the asuras led by Bali waged war against the gods. The gods were routed andturned to Brahma for help. Brahma directed themto seek refuge with Vishnu. Vishnu, in turn, advised them to call atruce with the asuras, and help them churn the ocean of milk to obtain theamrita (nectar of immortality), on the pretext of sharing it with them. Vishnu promised that onlythe devas would drink the nectar to regain their former power, so they couldonce again defeat the asuras. The devas took Vishnu's advice andcalled their truce with the asuras, and thus the gods and demons began planningtheir great enterprise. Since all know details of Churning Ocean and Sage Durvasa had no more part in the incident, it is not detailed here. The Curse to GoddessGanga: According to Puranic tales, while in Brahmaloka, Durvasa wasbathing when a strong wind blew away his clothes. Ganga, inher childhood form, laughed at his plight. Enraged, Durvasa cursedher to flow as a river on Earth and be used by people for purifying their sins,which led to her descent to Earth. Sage Durvasa cursed Goddess Ganga to flow as a river on Earth after she laughed at himwhen a gust of wind blew away his clothes while he was bathing in Brahmaloka.Incensed by her mockery, Durvasa declared she would lose her heavenly status,forcing her to descend to Earth to purify humanity. Key Details of theCurse: The Incident: Young Ganga witnessed Sage Durvasa (anincarnation of Shiva) in a vulnerable state and laughed, violating properconduct. The Curse: Durvasa condemned her to leave the higher lokasand dwell on Earth as a river, stating, "When the humans washtheir dirty linen in your water, you will realise how privileged you have beento be able to dwell in Swarga Loka". The Reaction: Despite pleas from others to pardon herchildish behaviour, Durvasa remained adamant that his curse was irreversible. The Resolution: Ganga apologized and accepted thepunishment, asking for a fixed, limited time for the curse, after which shecould return to her divine form. When Ganga asked for the duration of the curse,Durvasa stated that she would remain on Earthuntil her water became heavily polluted. Another interpretation suggests she would depart 5,000 yearsafter the start of Kali Yuga, which is 10,000 years into the age of Kali. Return to Heaven: The legend states that after this period,Ganga will return to her heavenly abode. The Descent (Context): While the curse brought her to Earth,she is known as Tripathagā (one who travels the three worlds—Heaven, Earth, andPatala The Incident withKing Ambarisha: In the Bhagavata Purana, Durvasa tested the devotion of King Ambarisha, a great devotee ofVishnu. After being invited to a meal, Durvasadeliberately delayed his return from his bath in the Yamuna to prevent the kingfrom breaking his fast on time. When Ambarisha took a small amount of water to break his fastto fulfil his vow (on the advice of priests), Durvasa felt it as a breach of hospitality ,Durvasa created a demon named Krityato kill the king. The Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu intervened, destroyed thedemon, and began chasingDurvasa, who fled to Brahma and Shiva. On advise of Lord Siva Durvasa eventually begged the king'sforgiveness, and theking prayed for the Chakra to stop. The Curse to HisWife, Kandali: Durvasa is also known to have cursed his wife, Kandali, fornot waking him up at the promised time(Brahma Muhurta) and for arguing with him. She was reduced to a heap of dust,and Durvasa later convertedher ashes into a plantain tree, giving it a boon that it would be used in allsacred rituals. 4. Meeting with LordNarasimha According to some traditions, Durvasa perfected his life inthe Satya Yuga by chantingthe Narasimha Kavacha and was blessed with a vision (Darshan) of LordNarasimha, the fourth avatar of Vishnu My note-As a response to Part1 of the posting Mr. Rajaram KrishnaMurthy, member ofKerala iyers has posted the Narasimha kavacha as a word document. Curse on Goddess Saraswathi Saraswati, whom he cursed to be born as a human because shelaughed at his incorrect recitation of the Vedas. Thecurse of Sage Durvasa upon Goddess Saraswati is a significant mythologicalevent primarily detailed in the Shankara Digvijaya (The Traditional Life of SriSankaracharya) by Madhava Vidyaranya. The Incident and Its Cause The Setting: The incident took place in the assembly of LordBrahma, where various sages were gathered to chant the Vedas. The Provocation: During the recitation, the short-tempered Sage Durvasa made a slight mistake, uttering the Vedic Mantras out of tune. The Reaction: Goddess Saraswati, the deity of knowledgeand learning, inadvertently laughed or smiled at the sage's error. The Curse: Feeling deeply insulted by her laughter, Durvasa flew into a rage andcursed Saraswati to be born on Earth as a human being. Outcome and Redemption The Plea: In deep distress, Goddess Saraswati and the otherassembled sages pleaded with Durvasa for mercy, noting her status as thedaughter of the assembly. The Mitigation: Durvasa softened the curse, stating she would be freed when she met LordShiva in his incarnation as the sanyasin Adi Shankara. The Incarnation: Consequently, Saraswati was born as Ubhaya Bharati (orBharati) on the banks of the Sona River. She grew up to be a scholar of immensevirtue and later married Mandana Misra, a renowned Vedic scholar. The Resolution: During the famous debate betweenAdi Shankara and Mandana Misra, Ubhaya Bharati served as the mediator. Upon recognizing Shankara as an incarnation of Shiva,the curse was redeemed, and she eventually chose to reside at the SaradambaTemple in Sringeri I will continue in nextposting. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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