STORY OF ASHTA VASUS AND
STORY OF UPAMANYU
Dear friends,
I read with interest two stories from Mahabharathaonline.com and thought of sharing with you for the variation of information. One is about Ashtavasus and other is about Upamanyu.
Sincerely,
Gopala krishnan 16-11-09
REPOSTED on 16-9-2020 after editing and updating. R.Gopalakrishnan
1. Ashta Vasus
Vasishta, the son of Varuna was a great sage. He had his hermitage on Mount Meru. He possessed a cow called Nandini, which was the daughter of Surabhi. (Here, Surabhi is another name for Kamadhenu). This cow, like her mother, was capable of yielding great riches to its possessor. It was in the habit of roaming in the woods near the hermitage of the Rishi.
One day, the celestial Vasus came to this spot, accompanied by their wives. They were eight brothers, who normally lived in the heaven. When one of the ladies beheld Nandini, the cow of plenty, she became desirous of possessing it.
She said to her husband Dyu, "My Lord, I wish to obtain this cow for my friend. My friend Jitavati, the daughter of the sage Usinara, is mortal. By drinking the milk from this cow regularly, she will be free from disease and decrepitude. Get this cow for me."
Now the Vasu Dyu very well knew that the cow belonged to the Rishi. So he tried to persuade his wife to forget about the cow since the Rishi would not part with it under any circumstances.
However, unable to bear the nagging of his wife, he ultimately decided to carry the cow away by force. Assisted by his brothers, he took the cow away to his home.
Rishi Vasishta had been away from his hermitage at this time. When he got back, he was surprised to see that his cow had not returned, long past its usual time. He searched the nearby woods and saw no sign of the cow. He then used his Yogic power and divined all that had taken place.
He then cursed the Vasus, saying, "Since in their arrogance the Vasus have committed the sin of stealing a Brahmana's property, may they be born on earth and suffer a mortal's fate!"
When the Vasu's came to know of the Rishi's curse, they became penitent, and begged the Rishi to stay his curse..
The sage relented. He said, "My curse cannot be completely stayed. The seven of you, who have merely obeyed your brother's orders, shall not have to suffer the mortal fate for long. However, Dyu, who is really the mind this mischief, will have to suffer his curse for a long time. However, he shall be an illustrious warrior, and will not have any children."
Once a meeting was called for in the courts of Brahma. Ganga was entering the court and an unexpected flow of wind slightly displaced her upper cloth. Some how Deva Mahabhishak got distracted and he was cursed by Lord Brahma to be born as human. He later was born as King Shantanu, and it became known that the Goddess Ganga would be his wife in the human life.
The Vasu's begged Ganga to be their mother in their mortal incarnation. They were the seven children drowned by Ganga when she was the wife of King Shantanu.The eighth child was the incarnation of Dyu, and he came to be known as Bhishma.
Variations from the normally heard Versions
Vasistha is told as son of Varuna and not as mind born son of Brahma. Vasistha is also told as having cow Nandini daughter of Kamadhenu and not Kamadhenu. I read in many other instances also Vasistha was keeping Nandini and not Kamadhenu..
2.UPAMANYU
Upamanyu was another favorite disciple of Saint Ayodhdhaumya. He was assigned the task of looking after the cows. One day when he returned after his days work, the Guru called him and said, "Son, you look very healthy and radiant. What do you eat while you are working?" Upamanyu replied with all humility, "Sire, I eat whatever I get in alms."
The saint who wanted to test Upamanyu said that from then onwards he would not eat anything that he received as alms without first asking him.
Upamanyu agreed and from then on offered all that he received to his guru. The Guru would take everything and give Upamanyu nothing. A few days later, the Guru again asked Upamanyu, "I take away all that you beg for, so what do you eat?"
Upamanyu replied that whatever he received by begging the first time, he offered it to his Guru and then went out and begged again a second time.
The guru said, "Son, this conduct is inappropriate for a resident of the hermitage. By begging twice you hinder the earnings of other pupils as you cut into their share of alms. Besides this also proves your greed." Upamanyu listened to the guru and agreed not to do so again.
A few days later, the guru again asked Upamanyu how he still looked so robust when he had stopped him from eating anything. To which Upamanyu replied that he drank a little of the cow's milk while he took them out to graze. The guru forbade him to do that without his permission.
A few days later, on seeing Upamanyu still looking healthy, the guru again called him and asked how he was surviving. This time Upamanyu said that he drank the foam that the calves drooled while feeding on their mother's milk. The guru again forbade Upamanyu not to do so and said that this would affect the health of the calves, as they would drop more and more foam for Upamanyu to feed out of the kindness of their heart.
Upamanyu agreed to this too and went back to graze the cows as was his duty. Now that all avenues of getting food were closed, Upmanyu felt really hungry. When he could not tolerate the intensity of hunger he went and ate the leaves of a plant called `Arka',[calotrope/ in Malayalam erukku] the leaves of which produce a bitter, sour, acidic and poisonous juice. Due to the effect of this juice Upmanyu was instantly blinded. He kept wandering in the woods and fell into a dry well.
After sunset, when Upmanyu did not return to the hermitage, the saint started worrying about him. He said to his other pupils, "I have closed all avenues for Upmanyu to get food. He is probably angry at this and hence has not returned, so let us all go and look for him." So they went to the woods to look for Upmanyu.
They called out for him and heard a feeble voice from the well. They hurried to the well and when they peeped inside they saw Upmanyu. They asked Upmanyu how he fell inside the well. Upmanyu said, "I was so hungry that I ate the leaves of the calotrope[arka] plant. I then became blind and while I was trying to find my way home I fell into the well." After hearing his story they pulled him out of the well and his Guru advised him to pray to the physicians of the Gods, Ashwini Kumar, so that his eyes would be healed.
Upmanyu did as he was advised and Ashwini Kumars (twins who are the Physicians of Gods) appeared before him.
They said, "Upmanyu, eat this sweet that we have brought you and you shall be healed."Upmanyu declined and said that he cannot eat anything without the permission of his guru. The gods then told him that they had offered his guru some sweet and he ate it without asking the permission of his own Guru. So if it is okay for your Guru to eat without first asking permission from his own guru then it is okay for you too.
But Upmanyu again declined and this devotion and obedience of Upmanyu towards his guru pleased the gods.
They blessed him and Upamanyu's eyes were healed and all his teeth turned into gold. Upmanyu then went to his guru and was blessed by him.
His guru was so pleased with him that he blessed him with instant memory and told him that he will know the Vedas and Dharamshashtras (other religious texts) spontaneously without any effort.
I heard another version of story he lay across a sudden current of water to prevent it entering the fields that he was guarding. The story does not give any reason why do the Guru wanted him to be not healthy.
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