Maharishi Durvasa

ॐ Hindu Of Universe ॐ

“God’s light is within you, It never leaves you.”

Maharishi Durvasa
Maharishi Durvasa was an incarnation of Lord Shiva or Rudra, hence the reason is understood about his short temper. Sage Durvasa is known to be responsible for the process of churning of the ocean to generate Ambrosia by Demigods and Demons.

Durvasa Avatar of Lord Shiva
Lord Shiva took Durvasa avatar for maintaining the discipline of the Universe. He was a great sage known for his short temper, he received great reverence from humans and Devas alike.

Once Atri (the Manas Putra of Lord Brahma) went to do penance on the banks of River Nivindhya according to the instructions of Lord Brahma himself. He started to do a tremendous penance.

Atri was deeply engrossed in his penance so much so that devastating flames of fire manifested from his head. This fire spread in all the three worlds in no time. All the deities became much terrified by the death and destruction that was caused by this fire. Lord Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva came to Atri and blessed him.

Later, Atri’s wife Anasuya gave birth to three sons who were the incarnations of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva. Lord Brahma took incarnation as Moon, Lord Vishnu took incarnation as Dutta, Lord Shiva took incarnation as Durvasa.

 

Maharshi Durvasa: The Grandmaster of Saiva Tantra
The untold story of shiva’s ferocious Jnana avatar

The mighty Bramharishi Atri along with his chaste and pious wife Anusuya were granted the boon to be the parents of Trimurti. Consequently, they gave birth to three children, Soma (Chandratreya), Datta (Dattatreya) and Durvasa (Krishnatreya). This post is dedicated to Rudra-avatar Maharshi Durvasa, highlighting his lesser-known contributions to Saiva Darsana.

In the previous post, we learnt about Swacchandanatha giving the knowledge of 92 Shaivite Agamas for the benefit of humanity. In the first three yugas, i.e., satya, treta and dwapara, people easily retained the knowledge of Agamas by virtue of their discipline and bramhacharya. But in kaliyuga, the knowledge was subsequently lost for various reasons. Consequently, the masters of the parampara retired to solitude to avoid impious people drained in the ocean of samsara. Shiva in his infinite grace, reappeared in kaliyuga in the form of Srikantha-natha and initiated Maharishi Durvasa in the Agamas on Mount Kailasa. He asked him to spread the knowledge throughout the world without discrimination of caste, creed, gender, etc.

After this initiation, Maharshi Durvasa scanned the entire world with his yoga-bala and found no one appropriate to be initiated. As a result he created 3 mind born sons and 1 mind born daughter from his tapas to propagate knowledge of Agamas, namely:

Tryambakanath: Maharishi initated him in the monistic Bhairava tantras. It is from this son that lineage of Bhairava Agamas started, today known as Kashmiri Shaivism.
Amardakantha: This son was initiated in the dualistic Siva Tantras.
Srinath: He was initiated in the monodualistic Rudra Tantras.
Ardhatryambaka: She was also initiated by her father in the monistic Bhairava tantras. Her lineage is therefore called the Ardhatryambaka school of Bhairava Tantras. This school continued/continues in secrecy, from one woman to another. No historical trace can be found.
Apart from the vast knowledge of Agamas, Maharshi Durvasa has to his credit composed various stavas and stotras, which like his previous contributions are only known in closed circles. To name a few, some of them are:

Parasambhu Mahimna Stava
Lalita Stava Ratna
Rudra Kavacha
and the list goes on.

A very devotional hymn dedicated to the Maharshi was composed by Saivacharya Aṃṛta Vāgbhāva, who lived in the early 20th century. He is said to have been taught a special Sambhava Yoga by Rishi Durvasa in his vision-encounter with him.

I hope this post brings some light to the immense contributions of Maharishi Durvasa, and clears the general infamous image of the Rishi who’s just known for giving shrapa (curse) among the masses. He is extremely benevolent just like any other Rishi, and his contributions are equally immense.

सदसदनुग्रह-निग्रह-गृहित-मुनिविग्रहो भगवान्। सर्वासामुपनिषदां दुर्वासा देशिकः प्रथमः ||

The God of gods (Siva) who has taken the form to punish (nigraha) and grace (anugraha), the good as well as the bad, who is in the form of a sage as the primeval teacher of all sastras, let he in the form of Sage Durvasa, be victorious.

I hope through this platform, we make an effort to rejuvenate and recover the lost glory of Shaivite Tantras. This shall be a small way to pay obeisance to Bhagwan Durvasa and his divine lineage.

Salutations to the Para-Parameshti Guru of the Shaivite Tantras.

Om Durvasa Bramhane Namah!

 

 

 

Saint Durvasa – Durvasa Maharishi – Durvasa Muni – Sage Durvasa
Saint Durvasa was an ancient saint. He occupies a predominant position in the history of sages. He is a well known sage of Satyug, Tretya Yug and Dwapar Yug. Saint Durvasa was an incarnation of Lord Shiva. He was also known for his bad temper. Although he was respected for his knowledge and wisdom, everyone was scared of his anger. He had a habit of cursing people over small mistakes. But his anger was always short-lived and he himself used to tell the remedy to cut the effect of curse.

Birth story of Saint Durvasa
It is believed that, Saint Durvasa was an incarnation of Lord Shiva. He was the son of Sage Atri and Anusuya. Sage Atri was the human son of Lord Brahma and her wife was a loyal and a faithful women. One day Goddess Saraswati, Lakshami and Parvati decided to challenge Anusuya’s loyalty towards her husband. All the three goddesses compels their husbands i.e Lord Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva to test her loyalty.

Anusaya’s maintained her loyalty. As a result, all the three gods starts to live with her as her sons. After some time, on request of all the gods and goddesses she releases them. The trinity gods before leaving blesses her that portions of themselves would be born as her sons. Later on, she gave birth to Soma as an incarnation of Lord Brahma, Dattatreya as Vishnu’s incarnation and Durvasa as Shiva’s incarnation.

As per other legends, it is believed that Sage Atri performed severe penance along with his wife Anusaya on Trishkul mountain to obtain a son. Pleased with his penance, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva blessed the sage that all the three gods would be born to him as his sons.

After some time, Sage Atri was blessed with three sons. Lord Brahma incarnated in the form of Soma, Lord Vishnu’s incarnation was Dattatreya and Durvasa was born as an incarnation of Lord Shiva.

General Character of Saint Durvasa
Saint Durvasa kept on testing his devotees. Although he was a great sage, he failed to control his anger which became his weakness. He used to get highly aggressive at small issues sometimes and curse the person without thinking much.

Saint Durvasa cursed Shakuntala as a result of his anger due to which she had to suffer a lot in her life. No one was saved from his anger including gods, demons, general public etc.

Significant incidents of Saint Durvasa’s Life
Saint Durvasa has attained many powers with his hard penance and meditation. He was able to attain great achievements by adhering Ashtang yoga. Many such events of his life were remembered for centuries and became the origin of many other events in sequence.

Saint Durvasa and Kunti
Once Saint Durvasa was pleased with Kunti’s service and so gave her a mantra which enabled her to invoke any god of her choice to beget children by them. As a result of this boon she gave birth to pandavas, who brought significant changes in the history.

Saint Durvasa and Lord Krishna
Once Saint Durvasa decided to test the patience of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna serves him best without losing patience on saint’s odd demands. One day, Saint Durvasa asks Lord Krishna to apply the left over Kheer (sweet dish made with rice and milk) all over his body. Lord Krishna did as he was instructed and was blessed by a boon. Saint Durvasa blessed him with all the love present in the universe.

Saint Durvasa and Kind Ambarisha
Once Saint Durvasa visited King Ambarisha’s kingdom. The king was observing Ekadashi and Dwadashi fast on that day. After completing the rituals of the fast, the king offered prasad to Saint Durvasa on which the saint asked him to wait until he had finished his bath in the Yamuna river. The auspicious moment soon arrived when the king had to break his fast to fulfill his rite. But, Durvasa had not yet returned from his bath. After consulting the other priests present, the king broke his fast by taking a sip of water.

When saint Durvasa returned, he got angry knowing that the king had broke his fast. He created a demon out of a strand of his hair to kill Ambarisha. The king started remembering Lord Vishnu and as soon as the demon attacked him, his Sudarshan Charkra intervened and killed the demon and started chasing Durvasa.

Durvasa went to Brahma and Shiva for protection. Lord Shiva asked him to meet Lord Vishnu, as he was the only one who could save him from the chakra. Lord Vishnu advised him to seek the king’s pardon for his mistake. Durvasa took this advise and returned to Ambarisha to apologize. On seeing his condition, King Ambarisha recalls the Sudarshan Chakra. Thus, protecting Durvasa’s life.

There are many instances from the life of Saint Durvasa that reflects his life’s perspective. These incidence also helps in gaining knowledge.

 

Durvasa Rishi and His Curses Based on Scriptures
Son of Anasuya and Atri, the Vedic ascetic sage Durvasa is one of the avatars of Lord Shiva. The morphological origin of the name Durvasa comes from two roots Dur – difficult and vas – clothes, dwelling, which literally means badly dressed or Who is difficult to live with.

In the Mahabharata, Durvasa Muni is described as an ascetic sage with a greenish-red complexion, a long beard, and tall stature; dressed in rags and carrying a stick of the sacred Bilva tree. Wherever he went, he was always accompanied by ten thousand disciples. In his travels, he kept strict vows and ate Durva (Dubo) herb only.

Durvasa Muni was known for his hot temper and indomitable rage. People and Devas treated him with due respect, for they were afraid to anger the sage. Anyone who deviated from the path of dharma, Durvasa punished with a curse using his yogic power, preserving and protecting traditional norms and values.

Curses of Durvasa Rishi
Rishi Durvasa, being of explosive temper, is said to have cursed and bestowed blessings on various deities and notable legends and deities. These curses are well mentioned in Agni Purana, Matsya Purana, Ramayana, Mahabharat, and Srimad Bhagavatam.

Curse to Indra
One of the chapters of Vishnu Purana describes how Durvasa rishi gave Lord Indra a flower garland but he put it on his elephant – Airavata which threw it on the ground. Thus, Durvasa cursed Indra and the gods depriving them of strength, luck, and prosperity. The result of this curse was the churning of the ocean, as a result of which Indra and other Devas finally attained Amrita to regain their power.

This story is very instructive, with a yogic sense. Flower garland, in this case, personifies the energy of growth, creation, and prosperity, they appear from the earth but are drawn to the heavenly light, opening towards it. In the human body, this energy is represented by Kundalini, which originates in the lower abdomen from the Kanda (bud) and rises to the crown of the head, where it blooms in the form of a shining thousand-petalled lotus.

The garland given by Durvasa was a grace from above, and great spiritual power was contained in it. Since the spiritual is inseparable from the physical, the neglect of the heavenly gift entailed the loss of power over all the worlds. We can say that Indra himself imposed a curse on him, and Durvasa simply informed him about it. By pointing out the mistake to Indra, he thereby gave him a chance to correct it, which happened as a result of churning the ocean (Samudra-Manthan).

Curse to Shakuntala
Shakuntala was the child of Vishwamitra and Menaka who was abandoned by Menaka soon after her birth in the forest. Kanva Rishi brought her to his ashram where she grew up.

Once when sage had gone away from the ashram and Shakuntala was walking like usual in the forest with her two friends, then King Dushyanta reached there chasing the hunt. Shakuntala was Menaka’s daughter, an integral beauty, the king was fascinated by her. Shakuntala was also attracted to him. And both of them got married. King Dushyanta returned to his palace after spending a month in a forest with Shakuntala and giving her a ring as a sign.

Once Rishi Durvasa came to the Ashrama but Shakuntala was deep in thoughts of the King. This infuriated Durvasa and cursed her that Dushyanta would forget her. Durvasa later used his mystic power to remove the curse.

Curse to Ganga
The mention of the Goddess Ganga is found in the Rigveda, the oldest sacred text of the Hindus. It is believed that one day sage Durvasa reached Brahmaloka. There was also Ganga in her childhood. Maharishi Durvasa started bathing there when his clothes were blown away due to a strong gust of wind. Young Ganga seeing this laughed out loud. In anger, Durvasa cursed Ganga that she would spend her life as a river on earth and people would take dips in it to purify themselves.

Curse to Rukmini
According to a legend, Durvasa Rishi was the Guru of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna after marriage to Rukmini took her to Rishi Durvasa to seek his blessing.

On returning to the palace, Lord Krishna and Rukmini invited Rishi Durvasa to dine with them in the palace. Lord Krishna removed the horses from the chariot and instead he himself and Rukmini started drawing the chariot.

On the way, Rukmini got thirsty and without seeking permission from the sage, she drank the water. This infuriated Rishi Durvasa and cursed Lord Krishna and Goddess Rukmini to be separated for 12 years. To get rid of the curse, Rukmini did the austerity of Lord Vishnu after which she was freed from the curse.

Curse to his wife Kandali
Kandali is the daughter of sage Aurva and the wife of Rishi Durvasa. Rishi Durvasa had promised Sage Aurva that he would continue to forgive 100 crimes of his wife. One day he asked his wife to wake him up at Brahma Muhurta. However, she failed in the task and Rishi Durvasa cursed her due to which she was reduced to a heap of dust for arguing excessively with him.

Then Durvasa Rishi converted the ashes of Kandali into a tree and gave a boon that from now on it will become a part of every worship and ritual. In this way, the banana tree was born and Kadaliphal i.e. the fruit of the banana became the prasad of every worship.

Curse to Bhanumati
Bhanumati was the daughter of Banu, the then-leader of the Yadavas. Bhanumati provoked Durvasa while playing in Raivata’s garden, and in response Durvasa cursed her. She, later in life, was kidnapped by Danava Nikumbha. However, Durvasa after being pacified explained that no harm would come to Bhanumati and that she would be saved and marry the Pandava Sahadeva.

Curse to Narayana
As per Swaminarayan Hinduism, Swaminarayan, who was a saint, was born because Narayana was cursed by Durvasa. The story narrates that after Krishna’s demise, Uddhava went to Badrinath, where Nara-Narayana’s discourses were heard by various sages. There, Durvasa arrived and cursed the entire assembly held on Mount Kailash as no one welcomed him. Nara-Narayana’s parents, Dharma and Bhakti, pacified Durvasa, who then reduced his curse. He said that Narayana would be born as their son to relieve them all from the clutches of evil.

Dharma and Bhakti were later born as Hariprasad Pande and Premvati Pande, and Narayana was born as their son named Ghanshyam, who is now known as Swaminarayan.

Nearly cursing the whole of Ayodhya
Saint Durvasa demanded to see Rama, who was in a private meeting with Yama. Yama instructed Rama not to allow anyone to interrupt their conversation or else they would be executed. Lakshmana was guarding the door and asked Durvasa to wait until his elder brother finished his meeting. Durvasa threatened to curse all of Ayodhya if he was not immediately informed of his arrival. Lakshmana had to interrupt Lord Rama’s meeting to inform him.

Rama fulfilled Durvasa’s request, and the sage left satisfied. Rama was sad because he had to keep his promise to Yama and couldn’t go back on his word. He ordered his beloved brother to leave him, and Lakshmana went to the Sarayu river to drown himself.

Curse to Draupadi
The sage Durvasa is known for granting boons, but also for his hair-trigger anger that often results in curses. Duryodhana once manipulated Durvasa into visiting the Pandavas in the forest after Draupadi had eaten her meal, knowing that there would be no food left to feed him. This left the Pandavas in a precarious situation as they were worried about facing the wrath of Durvasa if they failed to serve him.

Draupadi prayed to Krishna for help, who partook of the lone grain of rice and a piece of vegetable from the Akshaya Patra, which was enough to satiate the hunger of Durvasa and his disciples. They quietly left after their bath, afraid of facing the Pandavas’ wrath for refusing the food that would have been served to them.

Story of Sage Durvasa and King Ambarisa
The famous episode of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana tells the story of the Durvasa Maharishi and King Ambarisa, who was a renowned ruler and glorious devotee of Lord Vishnu. Once Ambarisa performed the ceremony of fire sacrifice with such boundless devotion and zeal that Vishnu gave him control over his Sudarshana chakra and its constant protection.

One day, when King Ambarisa worshiped Lord Vishnu and observed the vow of Ekadashi, the sage Durvasa appeared to him. Ambarisa received Durvasa respectfully and invited him to dine. Agreeing, Durvasa, along with his disciples, went to the Yamuna River to bathe during the day. There the sage immersed himself in meditation and did not return for a long time.

Ambarisa, seeing that the time for interrupting the fast was running out, followed the advice of Rishi Vasishtha, one of the Saptarishi (seven sages), and ended the fast by eating a leaf of the sacred Tulasi and drinking some water. Durvasa Rishi felt that the king was disrespectful by eating food without a guest. Returning, Durvasa began to chastise Ambarisa severely, and in anger, the sage created a fiery demon from his hair.

Seeing this, Lord Vishnu sent the Sudarsana chakra to protect the king, which in the blink of an eye destroyed the demon and began to pursue the offended guest. Durvasa tried to hide in Brahmaloka, Sivaloka, and other higher worlds, but he could not hide from the Sudarshana chakra.

Finally, the sage reached the heavenly abode of Vishnu -Vaikuntha and fell at the feet of Narayana, who told him that he won’t be of help, as he was bound by the bonds of devotion with King Ambarisa, and only the king himself could relieve him of the wrath of the Sudarshana chakra. Durvasa took this advice and returned to Ambarisa asking for forgiveness. Then Maharaja Ambarisa offered prayers to the Sudarshana chakra and thereby pacified her.

A curse is a Boon
Sage Durvasa is an example of correct curses, which through outwardly unfavorable events stimulate the spiritual growth of a person. People who were not ready for intense changes scattered in fear when the Rishis appeared, and only the strong in spirit invited him to their place.

Durvasa is the personification of the energy leading to spiritual growth through overcoming external difficulties, which are potentially present in each of us and is waiting for the signal to awaken.

 

Story of the Birth of Durvasa Maharishi – Why is Rishi Durvasa Always Angry?
Durvasa Maharishi is Brahma Gyani and a Sage mentioned in Puranas and Epics. He is notorious for his terrible anger and curses and also for instant boons. The popular belief is that Durvasa is an incarnation of Shiva. Durvasa was born to Atri Maharishi and Anasuya.

Legend has it that once Shiva and Brahma had a verbal duel. The debate soon turned ugly and turned into a full-fledged fist fight between the two. The fight then became a horrific war. Devas that witnessed the fierce angry form of Shiva fled the scene. Goddess Parvati could no longer tolerate the ugly incident and went up Shiva and told him that she is finding it impossible to live with him.
Soon anger of Shiva subsided. The anger was then diverted into the womb of Anasuya. She then gave birth to Durvasa. This is the reason why Durvasa is always angry.
The anger of Durvasa was responsible for the death of Sri Rama and Lakshman, Devas losing eternal youthfulness, cursing Shakuntala and the fight with Ambarisha.

As Durvasa can be pleased easily, he also gives boons instantly. Thus Kunti in the Mahabharata got the boons to beget children from Devas.

 

 

Maharishi Durvasa : Avatar of Lord Shivais considered to be an Avatar of Lord Shiva and he was famous for his anger.Lord Brahma’s son, Rishi Atri ( one from the saptrishis ), did penance on the Rishyamukh mountain for a hundred years along with his wife Devi Anusuya.Delighted by his penance, Trideva gave him the boon of three sons . As a boon of Lord Brahma rishi got the moon in the form of son, Lord Vishnu gave the boon of Maharishi Dattatreya and Maharishi Durvasa was born as a boon of Lord Shiva.This incarnation was taken by Lord Shiva to establish the importance of time and discipline in the universe.

Rishi Durvasa cursed many peoples, which destroyed the lives of those people . It was very difficult to impress Rishi Durvasa.

STORIES OF MAHARISHI DURVASA :

Their are various stories which are related to Rishi Durvasa and his anger.

1.CURSE ON GODDESS GANGA:

One day Maharishi Durvasa reached Brahmaloka.Goddess Ganga was also present there in her childhood Maharishi Durvasa was bathing in the Brahmkund.Then a gust of wind came and Maharishi Durvasa’s clothes blew away and seeing this Goddess Ganga started laughing.Maharishi Durvasa got angry and cursed Goddess Ganga that she will spend their lives like a river and people will take a dip in it to wash away their sins.

2.CURSE ON KANDALI :

Another story related to Rishi Durvasa in which he cursed his wife to set an example of discipline Rishi Durvasa’s wife’s name was Kandali ( daughter of rishi ambrish ), who was hardworking and very intelligent by nature. She took care of everything. But still sometimes something happened, but the sage never got angry on him. Due to this, gradually Kandali’s nature also started getting calm.

But one day the Rishi Durvasa came from somewhere and came late. After dinner, Rishi Durvasa asked for rest and also told his wife that ” lift me up tomorrow at Brahma Muhurta. I will try myself, but it may not be possible due to fatigue”. In the Brahma Muhurta, Rishi Durvasa had to perform the necessary rituals.

The next morning, Kandali woke up in the Brahma Muhurta, but due to laziness, neither she herself got up nor did she raised Rishi Durvasa . When Rishi Durvasa opened his eyes after sunrise in the morning, the day had come. Due to not being able to perform his rituals, he became very angry at Kandali and cursed her to be turn into ashes.

LORD SHIVA GAYATRI MANTRA :

The curse of Rishi Durvasa had an immediate effect and Devi kandali became ashes. The Rishi Durvasa also felt very sad over this incident, but he had to do so to establish discipline. When Kandali’s father Rishi Ambarish came, he was very sad to see his daughter turned to ashes.

Then Rishi Durvasa converted the ashes of Kandali into a tree and gave a boon that from now on it will become a part of every worship and ritual. In this way the banana tree was born and Kadaliphal i.e. the fruit of the banana became the prasad of every worship.

Rishi Durvasa cursed many people but it has always been good for the Universe and Lord Shiva taught people to live with discipline in this incarnation.

3. CURSE ON SHAKUNTALA :

Shakuntala was the daughter of sage Vishwamitra and the heavenly Apsara Menaka. Shakuntala was as beautiful as her mother. After being abandoned by her parents, the sage Kanva took Shakuntala to his hermitage and brought her up.

Once Dushyanta, the king of Hastinpur, came to play hunting and met her in the ashram of Rishi Kanva.Dushyant likes Shakuntala and asked Shakuntala to marry him. To which Shakuntala agreed and they got married by Gandharva method.

After staying with Shakuntala for some time, King Dushyant remembered his kingdom and returned to his kingdom and promised to take Shakuntala away after sometime and also gave his ring as a sign.

One day Durvasa Rishi came to Shakuntala’s ashram. At that time Shakuntala was lost in the thoughts of King Dushyanta. That is why Shakuntala could not see Rishi Durvasa and could not respect him, due to which Rishi Durvasa got angry and cursed that in whose thoughts you are lost, he will forget you.

When Shakuntala unknowingly apologized to the sage for the crime he had committed, then sage Durvasa forgave Shakuntala and said that when you show the ‘ring’, the symbol of your love to her, then her memory will return.

Shakuntala was pregnant when this incident happened.After this incident rishi kanva sent Shakuntala along with his disciples to her husband’s house at Hastinapur because she was married to King Dushyanta.

Shakuntala, on her way to her husband’s house, found a lake. Shakuntala went to the lake to drink water. At the same time Dushyant’s symbol of love ‘Angoothi’ fell in the lake. A fish swallowed that ring.

When Shakuntala reached Dushyant, she refused to recognize him because he had forgotten everything due to Curse of Rishi Durvasa . At the time when Shakuntala was insulted by King Dushyanta,Shakuntala’s mother Maneka came and took her with her and again left Shakuntala in the hermitage ( ashram ) of Rishi Kashyap.

On the other hand, the fish that had swallowed Shakuntala’s ring was caught in a fisherman’s net. When the fisherman cut the fish, the fisherman got the ring. The fisherman took the ring and went to the king.

As soon as King Dushyant saw that ring, he started remembering all the moments he had spent with Shakuntala. Maharaj immediately called the soldiers and sent them to find Shakuntala, but Shakuntala was nowhere to be found.

After that Dushyanta went to Rishi Kashyap’s ashram, where he saw a small boy playing with a lion.Seeing the boy playing with the lion, a feeling of love arose in the heart of King Dushyant.

King Dushyanta took him in his lap and all this was seen by Shakuntala’s friend.Sakhi of shakuntala was very pleased and went to Shakuntala and narrated the whole story.

Shakuntala was happy and came to the Maharaj. King Dushyant recognized Shakuntala. He prayed for forgiveness from Shakuntala and taking the orders of Rishi Kashyap brought Shakuntala along with his son to Hastinapur.

 

 

WHO WAS DURVASA, THE AVATAR OF SHIVA?
Durvasa is a well-known figure in Hindu mythology, revered as the avatar of Shiva, the god of destruction. He is often depicted as a short-tempered sage, known for his unpredictable and impulsive behavior. His name is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘dūrvā’ which means a type of grass used in Hindu rituals.

In Hindu mythology, Durvasa is known for his ability to curse people. He is believed to have cursed many people, including kings and gods. One of his most famous curses was on Indra, the king of the gods. Indra had disrespected Durvasa by not offering him the appropriate hospitality. As a result, Durvasa cursed Indra and caused him to lose all his powers.

Durvasa’s short temper is often attributed to his devotion to Shiva. He is said to have been a great devotee of Shiva and was known for his strict adherence to the principles of asceticism. He was known to have lived a very simple life, often wandering the forests and living off the land. His devotion to Shiva was so great that he was said to have been able to summon Shiva whenever he wanted.

One of the most famous stories about Durvasa involves him and the Pandavas, the heroes of the epic Mahabharata. The Pandavas were in exile in the forest, and Durvasa came to visit them. The Pandavas were worried about how they would feed such a large group of guests, so they asked their wife Draupadi to pray to Lord Krishna for help.

Lord Krishna appeared before Draupadi and asked her to give him a single grain of rice. He then multiplied the grain of rice into a huge feast, enough to feed Durvasa and all his followers. Durvasa was so impressed by this miracle that he blessed the Pandavas and left without causing any trouble.

Durvasa is also known for his role in the story of Ambarisha, a king who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Ambarisha had performed a great sacrifice and was about to break his fast when Durvasa arrived. Durvasa was not pleased with the king’s lack of attention to him, and he created a demon to attack Ambarisha.

Ambarisha prayed to Lord Vishnu, who sent his discus to destroy the demon. The discus chased Durvasa, who ran for his life. Durvasa eventually went to Lord Shiva for help, and Shiva advised him to seek the forgiveness of Ambarisha. Durvasa did so, and Ambarisha forgave him.

Durvasa’s unpredictable nature and his ability to curse people have made him a feared figure in Hindu mythology. However, his devotion to Shiva and his strict adherence to the principles of asceticism have also made him a revered figure. His stories serve as a reminder of the importance of hospitality, devotion, and respect for others.

In conclusion, Durvasa is a fascinating character in Hindu mythology. His impulsive behavior and ability to curse people make him a feared figure, but his devotion to Shiva and his strict adherence to the principles of asceticism make him a revered figure. His stories serve as a reminder of the importance of hospitality, devotion, and respect for others, and continue to inspire generations of Hindus around the world.

Lord Shiva took this form to maintain discipline in the Universe. Durvasa was a great sage and was known for being short-tempered.