| Yayati | |
|---|---|
 An illustration of Yayati on a throne | |
| Texts | Mahabharata |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents |
|
| Consorts | Devayani,Sharmishtha |
| Children | |
| Dynasty | Chandravamsha |
Yayati (Sanskrit:ययाति,romanized: Yayāti) is an emperor inHindu tradition. He is described to be aChandravamsha king. He is regarded to be the progenitor of the races of theYadavas and thePandavas.[1]
According to theHarivamsa, Yayati is the son of KingNahusha, and his wife, Virajas, the daughter of Pitris, and have five brothers: Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati, and Kriti. Yayati had conquered the whole world and was theChakravarti ("Universal Monarch" or "World Emperor").[2]
He marriedDevayani, the daughter ofShukra, and also tookSharmishtha, daughter of kingVrishaparvan, and the maid ofDevayani, as his mistress. Upon hearing of his relationship with Sharmishtha, Devayani complained to her father, who in turn cursed Yayati to old age in the prime of life, but later allowed him to exchange it with his son,Puru. His story finds mention in theMahabharata'sAdi Parva, as well as in theBhagavata Purana and theMatsya Purana.[3]
Brahma's son wasAtri, aBrahmarshi. Atri's son wasChandra, the moon god. Chandra lent his name to theLunar dynasty (Chandravaṃśa). Chandra's son wasBudha. Budha had a son withVaivasvata Manu's daughter,Ila. Ila's son wasPururavas, who studied under SageKashyapa. Pururavas married theapsaraUrvashi and had many sons, of whom Ayus was the eldest. Ayus completed his education from SageChyavana and married theasura princess Prabha.Ayus's son wasNahusha, who was educated by the SageVashistha.
UponIndra's loss of power, the devas asked Nahusha to be the new Indra. Nahusha ruled over the three worlds with the guidance of SageBrihaspati for 100 years. Nahusha's sons, headed byYati and Yayati, were educated by thousands of Brahmarshis and the devas who used to wait upon their father.Nahusha eventually became arrogant, and was punished severely, as he was cursed by thesaptrishi (seven sages) to be snake and to live further inNaraka (Hell). Indra was once more reinstated as the king of the devas.
TheMahabharata mentions about Yayati's achievements. He performed 100Rajasuyas, 100Ashvamedhas, 100Vajapeyas, 1000Atiratras, 1000Pundarikas and innumerableAgnishthomas andChaturmasyas. Wherever he hurled a Shami stick, he performed a sacrifice. He gave away mountains of gold and billions of cows to Brahmanas.[citation needed]
The legend of Yayati appears in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of the ninth canto of theBhagavata Purana.[4]
Yayati's father,Nahusha, is transformed into a python by a curse uttered by the sages, as punishment for his arrogance. Yayati's elder brother, Yati, is initially given the kingdom, but turns it down, and instead becomes anascetic. Yayati then becomes king in his place and rules the earth. He appoints his four younger brothers to rule the world's cardinal directions.
One day, Sharmishtha, daughter of thedaitya kingVrishaparvan, and Devayani, daughter of Shukra, go with Sharmishtha's retinue to bathe in a forest pool not far from their home. While they bathe,Indra transforms himself into a strong wind, collecting their clothes upon the stream's banks, and depositing them in a heap. In the ensuing confusion, the two women accidentally don each other's clothes. In the quarrel that ensued, Sharmishtha throws the naked Devayani into a well, and leaves the forest with her retinue. Later, Yayati, son of Nahusha, chanced upon the pool after hunting, and helps Devayani to climb out of it, before returning to his kingdom. Devayani sent her maid, Ghurnika, to her father, and informed him about the quarrel. Shukra is enraged, and to placate him, Vrishaparvan agrees to offer a thousand maids, along with his daughter Sharmishtha, to serve Devayani. Some time afterwards, Yayati meets Devayani again, and the two fall in love. After Shukra offers his consent, the two marry.[5]
When Devayani moves to Yayati's palace after her marriage, Sharmishtha, now her maidservant, also goes along. Shukra, however, sternly warns Yayati never to have any affairs with Sharmishtha.
After a long while, Sharmishtha comes to Yayati, and requests him to give her a child. He refuses, stating that if he were to do so, he would face the wrath of Shukra. Nevertheless, Sharmishtha manages to convince him, saying that it would be againstdharma if he were to refuse her request; he being the king, it was his responsibility to ensure the needs of the citizens, and she is desperate to have a child. He reluctantly agrees, and they begin an affair, in the hopes that she would conceive. In due course, Devayani gives birth to two sons: Yadu and Turvasu, while Sharmishtha begets three sons: Druhyu, Anudruhyu, and Puru.
Eventually, Devayani learns of her husband's affair with Sharmishtha, and complains to her father. Enraged at his son-in-law's disobedience, Shukra curses Yayati with premature old age in punishment for inflicting such pain upon his daughter. However, on learning Sharmishtha's desire to become a mother, he later relents, telling Yayati that if he could persuade one of his (Yayati's) sons to swap ages with him, he will be able to escape the curse, and regain his lost youth for a while. Yayati asks his sons if one of them would give up his youth to rejuvenate his father, but all refuse except the youngest, Puru (one of his sons by Sharmishtha). In grateful recognition of Puru's filial devotion, Yayati makes him his legitimate heir, and it is from the line of Puru - laterKing Puru - that the Kuruvamsha (Kuru dynasty) later arises.[6]
In the words of the story, Yayati enjoys all the pleasures of the senses 'for a thousand years' and, by experiencingpassion to the full, comes to realise its utter futility, saying: "Know this for certain... not all the food, wealth and women of the world can appease thelust of a single man of uncontrolled senses. Craving for sense-pleasures is not removed but aggravated by indulgence even asghee poured into fire increases it....One who aspires to peace and happiness should instantly renounce craving and seek instead that which neither grows old, nor ceases - no matter how old the body may become."[4] Having found wisdom by following the road of excess, Yayati gratefully returns the youth of his son Puru, and takes back his old age in return, renouncing the world to spend his remaining days as a forest ascetic. His spiritual practices are, at long last, blessed with success and, alone in the deep woods, he is rewarded with ascension toSvarga - the heavenly realm of the righteous, ruled byIndra, that is but one step below the ultimate liberation ofmoksha.[4]
Yayati ascended to heaven due to his virtues. He was so virtuous that he could travel to many celestial regions. Sometimes, he went to the region of Brahma and sometimes stayed at Amaravati, the region ofIndra. One day, when Yayati and Indra were conversing, Indra asked him questions. Indra asked him how many sacrifices he did and whom he was equal to in sacrifices. Yayati boastingly said the number of his sacrifices was innumerable, and proclaimed his superiority. Indra was angered by this bragging, and threw Yayati out of heaven. Yayati begged his pardon, so Indra said even though he would be thrown out of heaven, he would fall amidst virtuous and wise humans. Thus, while Yayati fell from the celestial region, he got stuck in the firmament. His grandsons: Ashtaka, Vasuman, Prattarddana, and Sivi (kings and sons of Mamata or Madhavi) met him. They enquired who he was, and why he was thus. They asked about heaven, about hell, about rebirth. Yayati recited everything. Then, out of compassion, they offered their own meritorious powers to Yayati. With these merits, Yayati attained again the realm of heaven. Five golden chariots arrived and took them to the region of eternal bliss, because of the merits of his grandsons and his own.
Another one of his descendants (throughPuru) was KingBharata, the son of KingDushyanta andShakuntala. Further descendants were part of theKuru kingdom, includingShantanu,Dhritarashtra,Pandu,Yudhishthira,Abhimanyu, andParikshit.
In modern language and usage, trading conscientious behaviour for external gain is sometimes called Yayati Syndrome.[9][10]
Yayati, a Marathi novel byV. S. Khandekar, won him theSahitya Akademi Award (1960), and aJnanpith Award (1974).[11]
PlaywrightGirish Karnad's debut playYayati (1961) is based on the story of King Yayati found in theMahabharata.[12]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
| Traditional author and narrators |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Books (parvas) | ||
| Kingdoms and Tribes | ||
| Major Events | ||
| Characters | ||
| Related | ||
