Yayati

Yayathi rescuing a woman

Yayati (Sanskrit: ययाति) was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha and one of ancestors of Pandavas. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti. He had two wives, Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani was the daughter of Shukracharya, the priest of Asuras (the demons). Sharmishtha was the daughter of the Demon King Vrishparva. Sharmishthe was a friend and servant of Devyani. After hearing of his relationship with second wife Sharmishta, from Devayani her father, sage Shukracharya 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 the Mahabharata-Adi Parva and also Bhagavata Purana.

Yayati and his ancestors ruled from Hastinapur while his descendants from Khandavaprastha, which lay of the banks of Yamuna. The city fell into ruin and was over grown by a forest, known as Khandava Vana. Later the Pandavas received it as Dhritarashtra divided the kingdom between them and his sons, the Kauravas. Pandavas rebuilt the ruined city and erected palaces and forts and renamed it Indraprastha.

Ancestry

Yayati was the second son King Nahusha, of the Aila dynasty, son of Ayu, the eldest son of Pururavas and Prabha, the daughter of Svarbhanu. Yayati succeeded his father as his eldest brother Yati became a muni (ascetic).The Ahirs, Gujars, Brahmans, Rajputs, Banias and Pathans and Balouch belonged to Yayati stock.

The story

Devayani was the daughter of Sage Shukracharya, the guru of all Asuras, she had been cursed by sage Kacha that she would not marry another Brahmana. Sage Shukra was living in his palace of At that time the Asura king was Vrushaparva, whose daughter Sharmishta was close friend with Devayani.

One day as Devayani and Sharmishtha along with the hoard of servants were amusing themselves in a park, King Yayati happened to pass by. Devayani had been secretly in love with Yayati as he had once rescued her from a dry well. Devayani and Sharmishtha introduced themselves to him and Devayani confessed to being in love with him and asked him to marry her.

Yayati said, "Unless your father gives you to me in marriage I will not accept you as my wife." Shukracharya gave in to his daughter's request and agreed to give her away in marriage to King Yayati. As dowry, he gave away Sharmishtha. He however warned Yayati that he should never let Sharmishtha share his bed.

Sharmishtha was given a place to live in a shaded glade called Ashok Vatika. One day Yayati happened to pass by Ashok Vatika where Sharmishtha lived. Seeing him, Sharmishtha confessed that she too was in love with the king and wanted him to marry her. She told him that she belonged to a royal family and Yayati could marry her. Yayati agreed and they wed in secret. They continued to meet and hid the fact from Devayani that they were married.

Yayati had two sons from Devayani – 1. Yadu and 2. Turvasu.

Yayati also had three sons from Sharmishtha – 1. Druhyu 2. Anu and 3. Puru.

When Devyani came to know about the relationship of Yayati and Sharmishtha and their three sons she felt shocked and betrayed. Devayani went away to her father's house. Shukracharya was displeased with the king, and cursed that he would lose his youth and become an old man immediately.

As soon as Shukracharya uttered his curse Yayati became an old man. Shukracharya also said that his curse once uttered could not be taken back and added that the only concession he could give was that if Yayati wanted he could give his old age to someone and take his youth from him. Yayati was relieved at the reprieve he was given and confident that his sons would willingly exchange their youth with him. Yayati went back to his kingdom. Yayati requested all his five sons one by one to give their youth to him to enjoy the worldly happiness. All the sons, except Puru rejected his demand. So Yayati took the youth of Puru. Later on, Puru became the successor of king Yayati.

Later, Yayati realized the futility of his shallow actions, renounced the world and did immense penance to redeem himself and gain enlightenment. As a result of his endeavour, he attained enlightened, and won great admiration and respect of the gods.

Descendants

Sons of Devayani

• Yadu gave rise to Yadu vansha, and one of his descendants as Krishna.

• Turvasu also known as Yavana and his descendant formed the Yavana Kingdom As per Srimad Bhagavatam 2.4.18: "Yavana was the name of one of the sons of Maharaja Yayati who was given the part of the world known as Turkey to rule. Therefore the Turks are Yavanas due to being descendants of Maharaja Yavana. The Yavanas were therefore kshatriyas, and later on, by giving up the brahminical culture, they became mleccha-yavanas. Descriptions of the Yavanas are in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva 85.34). Another prince called Turvasu was also known as Yavana, and his country was conquered by Sahadeva, one of the Pandavas. The western Yavana joined with Duryodhana in the Battle of Kurukshetra under the pressure of Karna. It is also foretold that these Yavanas also would conquer India, and it proved to be true."

Sons of Sharmishtha

• Druhyu and his descendant are believed to have formed the Twipra Kingdom.

• Anu gave rise to a Mleccha tribe, Tusharas (Tukharas, Tocharians), with their kingdom located in the north west of India as per the epic Mahabharata. (Mbh 1:85) Further on Kekaya, a warrior on the Pandava side into whose chariot Bhima got during the fighting on the sixth day. As per Bhagavata Purana the Usinaras, the Sibi, the Madras, and the Kekayas were the direct descendants of Anu. Sibi or Sivi is stated to be son of Usinara.

• Puru, the youngest son succeeded the Yayati and inherited his kingdom in the Gangatic plain. He in turn gave rise to Puru Vansha and eventually Pauravas, whose King Porus fought with Alexander the Great in the Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326 BC.

Another one of his descendants was King Bharat, son of King son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, and after whom, India's ancient named Bharatvarsha was kept. Further descendants were part of the Kuru Kingdom including Shantanu and Dhritarashtra, Pandava Arjuna, Abhimanyu and the Parikshit.

Influence

In modern language and usage, trading conscientious behavior for external gain is sometimes called Yayati Syndrome. Yayati, a Marathi novel by V. S. Khandekar, won him the Sahitya Akademi Award (1960), and a Jnanpith Award (1974). Playwright Girish Karnad's debut play Yayati (1961) is based on the story of King Yayati found in the Mahabharat.

See also

• Lunar Dynasty

Further reading

• Mahabharata, Adiparva, verse. 71-80.
• Yayati (Marathi). 1959. ISBN 817161588X
• Yayati: A Classic Tale of Lust, by V. S. Khandekar (English), Tr. by Y. P. Kulkarni. Orient Paperbacks. ISBN 8122204287.
• Yayati, by Girish Karnad. Oxford University Press.

References

• Dowson, John (1888). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature. Trubner & Co., London. http://www.archive.org/stream/aclassicaldictio00dowsuoft#page/n27/mode/2up. 

• Mani, Vettam (1964). Puranic Encyclopaedia. Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi. ISBN 0482608222. http://www.archive.org/stream/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft#page/n5/mode/2up. 

External links

• Story of King Yayati from Mahabharata
• Devayani and Yayati Retold by P. R. Ramachander
• Yayati in Brahma Purana