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 There are times when we
have to use cunning for the sake of good. In such circumstances, the end
always stands higher than the means. Such means are especially important in
statecraft and warfare.
This took place much before
the times of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Devas (gods) and their
cousins the Daityas (demons) were at war. The Daityas were winning the war
because their preceptor, the venerable Shukracharya, knew the Sanjeevani
mantra that could revive the dead. The Devas thought and concluded that
there was no way that they could meet the challenges of the Daityas unless
they had knowledge of the Sanjeevani mantra. They chose Kacha, the son of
Brihaspati their preceptor, to do the needed.
Kacha went to Shukracharya
and begged of him to be his teacher. Giving due respect to Brihaspati and
also taken in by Kacha's humble behaviour, Shukracharya readily accepted
Kacha's request. Kacha fulfilled his obligations as a pupil much to the
liking of Shukracharya and, also, in time grew close to Shukracharya's
daughter, Devayani.
The guileful Daityas came
to suspect Kacha's intentions and decided to kill him without Shukracharya's
knowledge. One day they caught hold of him immersed him in the sea and
brought him dead to Shukracharya citing some lame reason for his death.
Shukracharya however could see through their wicked act and using the
Sanjeevani, brought Kacha back to life.
The second time, the
Daityas tore up Kacha and fed his flesh to dogs. Devayani tearfully reported
to Shukracharya of this and he once again uttered the Sanjeevani and Kacha
came back to life tearing open the dogs.
The Daityas, a third time,
killed Kacha by tying him to a tree and burning him. They then mixed his
ashes with some wine and gave it to Shukracharya to drink. Only after he
drank it did Shukracharya come to know of the act perpetrated by the Daityas.
Instantly, he could see through the ploy of the Devas!
He taught the Sanjeevani to
Kacha who was inside him and then, lying down recited the mantra. Kacha came
out tearing Shukracharya's body. True to his nature, Kacha brought
Shukracharya back to life.
Since then, by
Shukracharya's curse, any person who partakes of wine will face misery just
as he did himself. Kacha returned to the realm of the gods with knowledge of
the Sanjeevani. As for Devayani, Kacha had come out of Shukracharya's body
and had thereby become her own blood and brother; so she could not marry
him! She later married a king named Yayati who was an ancestor to the
Pandavas and the Kauravas. |
