Durvasa

**Durvasa** was a legendary sage and the son of Anasuya and Atri. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati. Known for his short temper, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence from humans and devas alike.

## History

### Birth

Brahma and Shiva got into a heated quarrel. Shiva became violently enraged when the devas fled from his presence in fear. His consort, Parvati, complained that Shiva was now impossible to live with. Realizing the chaos his anger had caused, Shiva deposited this anger into Anasuya, the wife of sage Atri. From this portion of Shiva deposited into Anasuya, a child was born, named 'Durvasa'. Because he was born of Shiva's anger, he had an irascible nature.

### Churning of the Ocean

When Durvasa was wandering the world in a ridiculously good mood, he came across an air nymph and saw her flower garland. He wanted it and the nymph, aware of what happens when he doesn't get his way, gave it to him. After running into Indra while wearing it, Durvasa decided to toss the garland to him and the god placed it on the head of one of his Vahanas: his cloud-spinning elephant, Airvata. But Airvata was irritated by the tickling fragrance of the nectar and threw the wreath on the ground. Angered by this, the sage ended up cursing the gods by casting them down from their positions just like the garland, giving birth to the events of the Samudra Manthan.

### In the Ramayana

In the Uttara Kanda of Valmiki's Ramayana, Durvasa appeared at Rama's doorstep and, seeing Lakshmana guarding the door, demanded an audience with Rama. Meanwhile, Rama was having a private conversation with Dharma Raja (the god of death) disguised as an ascetic. Before the conversation, Dharma Raja gave Rama strict instructions that their dialogue was to remain confidential and anyone who entered the room was to be executed. Rama agreed and entrusted Lakshman with the duty of guarding his door and fulfilling his promise to Dharma Raja.

Thus, when Durvasa made his demand, Lakshman politely asked the sage to wait until Rama had finished his meeting. Duevasa grew angry and threatened to curse all of Ayodhya if Lakshman did not immediately inform Rama of his arrival. Lakshman, in a dilemma, decided it would be better that he alone die to save all of Ayodhya from falling under Durvasa's curse and so interrupted Rama's meeting to inform him of the sage's arrival. Rama quickly concluded his meeting with Dharma Raja and received the sage with due courtesy. Durvasa told Rama of his desire to be fed and Rama fulfilled his guest's request, whereupon the satisfied sage went on his way.

### In the Mahabharata

#### Blessing Kunti

In the Mahabharata, Durvasa is known for granting boons to those who pleased him, particularly when he had been served well as an honoured guest. An example of such behaviour is the episode between him and Kunti, the future wife of Pandu and the mother of the Pandavas. When Kunti was a young girl, she lived in the house of her adopted father, Kuntibhoja. Durvasa visited Kuntibhoja one day and sought his hospitality. The king entrusted the sage to his daughter's care and tasked Kunti with the responsibility of entertaining the sage and meeting all his needs during his stay. Kunti patiently put up with Durvasa's temper and his unreasonable requests (such as demanding food at odd hours of the night) and served the sage with great dedication. Eventually, the sage was gratified. Before departing, he rewarded Kunti by teaching her the Atharvaveda mantras, which enables a woman to invoke any god of her choice to beget children by them. Curious and skeptical, Kunti decided to test the mantra, which resulted in the birth of Karna.

#### Visiting the Pandavas during exile

Durvasa and his disciples visited the Pandavas in their hermitage in the forest, as per Duryodhana's request. During this period of exile, the Pandavas would obtain their food by means of the Akshaya Patra, which would become exhausted each day once Draupadi finished her meal. Because Draupadi had already eaten by the time Durvasa arrived that day, there was no food left to serve him and the Pandavas were very anxious as to their fate should they fail to feed such a venerable sage. While Durvasa and his disciples were away bathing at the river, Draupadi prayed to Krishna for help. Krishna immediately appeared before Draupadi saying he was extremely hungry and asked her for food. Draupadi grew exasperated and said she had prayed to Krishna precisely because she had no food left to give. Krishna then told her to bring the Akshaya Patra to him. When she did, he partook of the lone grain of rice and piece of vegetable that he found stuck to the vessel and announced that he was satisfied by the "meal".

This satiated the hunger of Durvasa and his disciples, as the satisfaction of Krishna (the Supreme Being who pervades the entire universe) meant the satiation of the hunger of all living things. Sage Durvasa and his disciples then quietly left after their bath, without returning to the Pandavas' hermitage, for they were afraid of facing what they thought would be the Pandavas' wrathful reaction at their impolite behaviour of refusing the food that would be served to them.

## *The Pandava Quintet*

### *Aru Shah and the Song of Death*

After the reincarnated Pandavas left Kamadeva for the first time, the god of love gives them a card for Durvasa, who will curse them for wasting their time. They didn't use the card until Mini got trapped in the Land of Sleep; the card then led them to the Department of Many Voices.

Durvasa first appeared in his booth looking at his files while demanding the Pandavas. He mentioned someone who had a bad haircut, didn't offer him a place to sit, inquire about his health, and breath through his mouth which Durvasa thought was disgusting. So he cursed that person to make every chocolate chip cookie he reached for turn out to be a cleverly disguised oatmeal raisin. Then he read about someone who wasted his time wishing for a mantra for sleep and then cursing them that both sides of their pillow would be slightly too warm and the door creaks whenever they get sleepy. Other curses included someone's spoon falling in their cereal, fumbling with a credit card at a huge line at Starbucks, and being forced to step out of the shower to get a towel because it's a smidge too far to reach. Aru Shah remembered him as the sage who cursed the gods to lose their immortality. He knew why they were at the DMV for him, and Aiden Acharya explained that Mini knew the name of the thief who stole Kamadeva's bow and arrow which was needed for her soul song. Durvasa thought about the request, but decided against it and just left.

Aru and Brynne tried to change his mind with Oreos and lasagna, but the former food makes his teeth bad and he despises the latter. He reappeared behind them in the cosmic gallery when they were looking at a statue of Shakuntula and remembering her story. Aru Shah tried to show him Vajra to prove that they were divine but the lightning bolt just zoomed back into her pocket. Durvasa saw this as Indra not forgetting his might; he explained why he cursed the gods. Aiden argues that it was Airvata's fault, but Durvasa dismisses this and ask why they were there. He explained that one of the statues was Rambha and that he was forbidden from assisted or blessing people suspected as thieves according to the legal ordinances of the Otherworld. He knew that they got in the DMV by stealing a green ticket, to which they responded that Queen Uloopi will ban them from the Otherworld in three days.

On asking by Aru if he ever wanted a different ending or whether he thought about what would happen if he didn’t follow the rules, Durvasa changed his mind and decides to 'not-help' them by telling them what he would not say.

## Appearance

Durvasa had a generous belly, nut-brown skin, black eyes, and black hair piled into a matted bun on top of his head. He was wearing a polo shirt with a small badge that read "S. Durvasa. The Answer is NO".