The Great Yayati : Cycle of Karma

Sarmishtha was the daughter of Vishaparva, king of the Asuras and Devayani was the daughter of Shukracharya, guru of the Asuras. They were both the best of friends. But one day they had a fight. After a swim in a pond, while dressing up hurriedly, Devayani wore Sarmishtha’s robes by mistake. A livid Sarmishtha called Devayani a thief and her father a beggar. She then pushed Devayani into a well and walked away in a royal huff.When Devayani returned home late in the evening, she told the events to her father and raised a storm of tears and wailing until her father promised he would teach the Asura princess,Vishaparva a lesson. ‘Until the king apologizes for his daughter’s behaviour, I will not perform any yagna for them,’ said Shukracharya. Vishaparva begged Shukra to change his mind and restart the yagnas; without them he was powerless against his eternal enemies, the Devas. ‘I will,’ said Shukra, ‘but only if you punish your venom-tongued daughter. Make Sarmishtha my daughter’s maid and I will return to your sacrificial hall.’ Vishaparva had no choice but to agree. The princess Sarmishtha was thus made to serve Devayani as her lady-in-waiting. This humiliation, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It so happened that the man who had rescued Devayani from the well she had been pushed into by Sarmishtha was Yayati, a Chandra-vamsi Kshatriya. During the rescue, Yayati had held Devayani by her hand. ‘As you have held me, a virgin, by my hand, you are obliged to take me as your wife,’ said Devayani to Yayati, quoting the scriptures. ‘So be it,’ said Yayati, who was equally well informed about the scriptures. He came to Shukra’s hermitage, and with his blessings took Devayani to his kingdom as his lawfully wedded wife. ‘Let my maid accompany me,’ said Devayani, eager to continue the humiliation of Sarmishtha. ‘As you wish, my queen,’ said Yayati. Sarmishtha had no choice but to accompany Devayani to her husband’s house as a maid. One day, Sarmishtha caught the eye of Yayati. It was love at first sight. Unlike Devayani, who had priestly blood in her veins, Sarmishtha had royal blood in her veins, and spirit to match. And this pleased Yayati greatly. The two got married secretly and even had children. Devayani had no knowledge of this; Sarmishtha managed to convince her that her lover was a palace guard. But one day, Devayani heard Sarmishtha’s son refer to Yayati as father. Realizing she had been duped both by her husband and her maid, an enraged Devayani left the palace and ran back to her father and once again, at her behest, Shukra promised to teach her husband a lesson. Shukra cursed Yayati, ‘You will become old and impotent.’ The curse took immediate effect. But it was soon clear that the one most to suffer from the curse was Devayani herself. An old and weak husband is of no value to anyone! Shukra, however, could not reverse his curse. All he could do was modify it. ‘You will regain your youth and your potency, Yayati, if one of your sons accepts the curse on your behalf.’ Yayati immediately sent for his sons. Yadu, the eldest son, born of Devayani, refused to suffer on his father’s behalf. ‘Is it not against dharma to reverse the march of time, make the son renounce the world when it is time for the father to do so?’ he asked. Yayati then turned to Puru, his youngest son, born of Sarmishtha. Puru agreed.

So it came to pass that Puru suffered old age while his father enjoyed his youth. He coughed and stammered and stooped on a stick while Yayati embraced his wives and went on hunts and fought wars. Years later, realizing that youth and virility do not bring contentment, Yayati relieved Puru from the effects of his curse.

When the time came to announce a successor, Yayati declared Puru, though youngest, as his heir. ‘Because he suffered for me,’ explained Yayati. Yadu, though eldest, was not only denied the throne but also cursed, ‘Since you refused to suffer for your father, neither you nor your descendants will ever be kings.’ An indignant Yadu left Yayati’s kingdom and travelled south to Mathura, the kingdom of the Naga people. There his beauty and mannerisms impressed a Naga called Dhumravarna. ‘Marry my daughters. Be my son-in-law. Make Mathura your home,’ he said. Yadu agreed because the Nagas of Mathura had no king; they were ruled by a council of elders through the system of consensus. This suited him well. Cursed, he could not be king. Still, in Mathura, he could be ruler. Yadu married Dhumravarna’s daughters and they bore him children from whom descended various tribes such as the Andhakas, the Bhojakas and the Vrishnis. Collectively, these descendants of Yadu were called the Yadavas. Krishna would be born in the Yadava clan. Like other Yadavas, he would never be king, only a kingmaker. Puru became the patriarch of the illustrious Kuru clan. From him descended the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The curse of Yayati sowed the seeds of the war that would take place much later in Kurukshetra: for it gave greater value to a son’s obedience than to the natural march of generations. Inspired by this event, Bhishma would sacrifice his own conjugal life to enable his old father to remarry.

Footnotes

• The alternating fortunes of Devayani and Sarmishtha draw attention to the nature of karma—what seems like bad luck (Devayani being pushed into a well, Sarmishtha being reduced to a maid) ends up as good luck (Devayani finds a husband, Sarmishtha finds love). Even Shukra’s curse does not have the desired effect—it punishes the daughter more than the son-in-law. Thus no one on earth can foretell the consequences of any action, however wise he may be.

• Though the Chandra-vamsis originally sprang from Devas, Yayati’s marriage to the daughters of an Asura king and an Asura priest, and the marriage of Yadu to Naga women, indicate the mingling of races and tribes. Janamejaya, who performed a sacrifice to kill the Nagas, was actually killing a race of people related to his ancestors by marriage. In Vedic times, men were allowed to marry women who belonged to their station in life or to those who belonged to lower stations. Yayati’s marriage to Devayani is a departure; she is the daughter of a priest hence of higher station. This was a pratiloma marriage—inappropriate according to the scriptures. His association with Sarmishtha, a princess-maid, was an anuloma marriage and was deemed more appropriate as it was with a woman of inferior rank. Puru, the child of Sarmishtha, is therefore projected as a more suitable son than Yadu, son of Devayani.