Kacha and Devayani appear in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharat. Kacha was the son of Devguru Brihaspati and the grandson of Rishi Angiras. There was a time when there were continuous wars between Devas and Asuras for the sovereignty of the three worlds. Between these skirmishes, the Devas decided to make Brihaspati the chief priest. The Asuras roped in Shukracharya to become their ‘guru’ and the chief priest.
The Devas slayed many Asuras in the war. However, Shukracharya revived them with the power of his knowledge. And they came back to life fought the Devas. The Asuras also slayed the celestials but Brihaspati could not revive them as he did not know the science of ‘Sanjeevani’ which Shukracharya had mastered.
The Devas were now worried and they asked Kacha, the eldest son of Brihaspati to become Shukracharya’s disciple and learn the science of revival from him. Agreeing to help them, Kacha went to the court of Raja Vrishaparvan where Shukracharya was the royal priest.
Kacha received a warm welcome from Shukracharya and he became Shukracharya’s disciple. Kacha was a devout disciple and with his nature and behaviour he gratified both Shukracharya and Devayani. Devayani fell in love with him. In the meantime, the Asuras became aware of Kacha’s purpose and intention.
One day Kacha had gone into the woods to graze the cows of his teacher. The Asuras killed him and the cows returned to Shukracharya in the evening. Noticing that Kacha was missing, a distressed Devayani went to Shukracharya to inform him.
Shukracharya realised that Kacha had been killed and he then revived him using his powers. Kacha returned back all hale and hearty. The Asuras killed Kacha again and this time again he was revived by Shukracharya at the request of his daughter. The Asuras realised that Shukracharya would keep reviving Kacha every single time.
The Asuras slayed him the third time. They burnt his body and reduced him to ashes. The Asuras mixed the ashes in Shukracharya’s wine which he ended up drinking. When Kacha didn’t return until nightfall, Devayani went again to Shukracharya to inform him about Kacha’s absence.
This time when Shukracharya called upon Kacha, he realised that Kacha was inside his stomach. He then told Devayani what had happened and said that Kacha could be revived only by tearing his stomach apart. So Shukracharya would have to die for Kacha to live. He told this fact to Devayani. A heart broken Devayani told Shukracharya that she wanted both to survive.
Shukracharya realised that it was time to transfer the ‘Sanjeevani’ science to Kacha. He passed the secret mantra to Kacha. Kacha emerged from his teacher’s stomach and then used the Sanjeevani mantra to revive Shukracharya.
Shukracharya was immensely pleased with his noble deed and blessed him. Having fulfilled his purpose, Kacha sought permission of his teacher to leave. Devayani was disappointed and now expressed her love for him. She wanted to marry Kacha. Kacha told her that as he had revived from Shukracharya’s stomach he was now her brother and it would be incorrect to marry her.
On hearing this Devayani was outraged and cursed Kacha that he would never be able to use the Sanjeevani mantra. Kacha inturn cursed Devayani that she would never marry a rishi’s son. He was angry that she cursed him for no fault of his own. Kacha also proclaimed that he would teach the mantra to the other Devas even if he couldn’t use it himself.
Saying this Kacha returned to Devlok. He fulfilled his mission but was heart broken with the curse. Kacha and Devayani never met again.
