A Page from Ancient Literature

Ages back, sage Durvasa born in the image of lord Shiva wandered around the earth with a specific objective. While moving on earth, Durvasa saw a divine rosary of eternally blossoming flowers in the hands of a beautiful vidyadhara. The divine rosary emitted sweet and enchanting fragrance, and appeared quite suitable for the delight and pleasure of the people of the forest. A Brahmin of crazy attitude and little sagacity requested the beautiful girl of vidyadhara to give the celestial rosary to him. She did not resist, paid respects to the Brahmin and handed over the beautiful rosary to him.

A Brahmin of little intelligence and wisdom, adorned the forehead with the rosary and loitered around with a kind of madness and pleasure. At that time, the Brahmin saw lord Indra, the lord of three worlds, the god of gods and swamy of Sachi, mounting a vehicle the legendary Airavata -an elephant. Holy Brahmin Durvasa in a frolicking and passionate inner humor, noticed Indra, took off the rosary from the forehead and threw it at Indra. Indra put the rosary on the head of Airavata. It adorned the head of the elephant and it looked brilliant and beautiful, and appeared as if holy Ganges ensconced comfortably on Kailasa Mountain. Elephant of Indra was also in a lighthearted frame of mind and felt attracted toward the rosary in optimistic manner, smelt it with the trunk and threw it on the ground. 

Durvasa did not admire it when he saw valued rosary on the ground. He was very annoyed because the act exhibited disregard for the gift the sage had got from a celestial beauty.

He said in anger, “You are proud of wealth, magnificence and power and it has contaminated you, O Indra.  You did not give proper respect to the rosary -an object of divine beauty, and it reveals your arrogance. O Indra, you did not respect and express gratitude, and thereafter, you were quite insolent. You did not put it on head.  It humiliates the man, who gives a gift. O fool, you did not value a sacred rosary I gave. Therefore, O Indra, a bad and unwise act will destroy the prestige and honour you enjoy in the three worlds. It is certain you considered me equal to the Brahmins, and so, you were audacious and proud of ‘the self and glory,’ and hurt a monk. Look, you threw away the rosary on the ground and so, very soon the wonderful palaces in which you live will be devoid of glory and brilliance. O lord of the gods, you humiliated a sage, who instills fears in all the animate and the inanimate beings but because of pride and impertinence, you have offended and insulted me.”

Durvasa’s anger awakened Indra, who realized the enormity of affront heaped on a holy man,  and therefore, without loss of time, he got down from Airavata, tried to please the monk, and made modest entreaties.

Sage Durvasa was now quite happy when lord Indra exhibited a sense of admiration, he looked at Indra with restrained anger, and said, “O Indra, I am not of generous and magnanimous nature and I find no reason to forgive anyone. Monks are different you understand. I am Durvasa you know. Sage Gautama and many other monks unnecessarily gave you exalted status and importance, which appear quite futile. A waste of blessings I say. However, you remember, O Indra. I do not pardon an impudent fellow. The sages of generosity and compassion unjustifiably magnified your ego and conceit and so you are profusely egoist and had tried to belittle a sage. O Indra, you will find none in the three worlds, who is not afraid of the gleaming cluster of hair and twisted eyebrows -bhrikuti.  Why do you try to dramatize pleadings continually? What is the use of the words you speak? I do not to listen to the supplication.”

Not for a moment, Durvasa appeared relenting, and in fact, tried to expose Indra but did not fully admire other monks it was apparent, who gave Indra a supreme status among the created beings.

Sage Durvasa said in suppressed anger and went away to the already decided destination to attain the objective. Indra mounted Airavata, went to Amravati, the wonderful celestial capital, and thought of amazing grandeur and divine magnificence of the city and the status unworried about Durvasa’s the anger and its consequences.

In the beginning, Indra appeared quite indifferent to the harsh and unsympathetic utterances of sage Durvasa but soon he realized the terrible sin of committing an act of impetuosity. Dreaded impact of the curse was visible on the trees, the creepers, the flowers and the objects of nature as the divine treasure of beauty and glory began to shed sheen and brilliance. Right from the day of curse the sage issued, people stopped holding sacred Yajnas, and men of tapa left meditation and penance, and people no longer took interest in acts of charity and various acts of dharma.  Greed and passion overpowered the three worlds, and thus, the worlds lost Sattva, truth or virtues of life. People lost the aptitude to act virtuously, and were always eager to possess belongings of trivial worth. Material insatiability ruled minds of people with little respect for principles of ideal life.