King Yayati appears in the Adi Parva section of the Mahabharat. He was the ancestor of the Yadavas and the Pandavas. He was a great scholar and also a noble ruler of his times. He was devoted to his kingdom and his subjects. However, his unsatisfied lust overshadowed his entire life and in the end led him to the path of salvation.
Yayati was married to Devayani, daughter of Shukracharya (the Guru of Asuras). Devayani was very beautiful and was devoted to her father. Shukracharya was the advisor of Asura King Vrishaparvan. The king’s daugher Sharmishtha and Devayani were best friends. One day, the two young ladies went to bathe in the river. The royal maids of the Asura princess joined them.
The ladies left their clothes at the river banks and soon they were playing in the river waters. Strong winds around the river bank, blew away their clothes. Noticing this, both the ladies hurried to the banks to retrieve their clothes and ended up wearing each others clothes. This triggered a quarrel between them and both hurled insults at each other’s father’s. In the heat of the moment, Sharmishtha and her maids threw Devayani in a nearby well. Yayati who was on a hunting expedition happened to pass by the well. He heard Devayani’s cries for help and rescued her. He then took her to his palace.
Devayani informed her father about the incident. An enraged Shukracharya informed King Vrishaparvan about the event and decided to leave the kingdom. Seeing the wrath of the Asura Guru, the king begged for forgiveness. Shukracharya asked the king to send his daughter Sharmistha as a hand-maiden to Devayani. She would need to serve Devayani for life. King Vrishaparvan accepted the condition to protect his own kingdom.
In the mean time, Yayati and Devayani fell in love. They got married after Shukracharya gave his consent to the marriage. Sharmishtha accompanied Devayani to her new home to serve as a hand-maiden. Very soon the couple had their first child named Yadu and then the second named Turvasu. The Yadava dynasty started from Yadu. Krishna was born in the Yadava dynasty.
One day, Sharmishtha saw Yayati and seduced him. They had a secret affair for may years and Sharmishtha gave birth to three sons – Druhyu, Anudruhyu, and Puru. One day Devayani discovered the affair and was heart-broken. She informed her father about it.
On hearing about Yayati’s affair, Shukracharya cursed him with premature old age. When Yayati begged for forgiveness, Shukracharya told Yayati that if he could persuade one of his sons to swap ages with him, he would be able to escape the curse, and regain his lost youth for a while. Yayati asked all his sons but they all refused except Puru (his youngest son from Sharmishtha).
Grateful for his devotion, Yayati announced Puru as his legal heir to the throne. The Kuru dynasty later started from Puru. By swapping his old age with his youngest son, Yayati enjoyed all the sensual pleasures for a thousand years but was still not contented. One day the realization dawned on him ‘All the food, women and wealth in the world cannot fulfil the lust of a man with uncontrolled senses. The desires only increase with more indulgence’.
Having reached enlightenment by the path of excesses, Yayati returned his youth back to his son Puru. He renounced the world and went to the forest to spend his remaining days as an ascetic. Through the power of his penance, Yayati attained Swarga (the heavens).
Yayati’s story is a reminder that untamed desires and passions only bring immense dissatisfaction and ultimately lead us on the path of self destruction. Everyone is not fortunate enough to have a realization through excesses like Yayati did.
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