Father Atri
Among the great sages Tri is the foremost. It is said that he born from the eye of Lord Brahma. He reached a stage beyond trigunas namely satva, rajas and tamas.Sage Atri had no children for a long time and in order to get children he began to perform severe tapas to pleasegods. He observed silence for one hundered years and he was in samadhi. He stood on one leg and meditated in God.He had no food except the air he breathered. His only object was to be blessed with a son equal to the lord ofthe three worlds.
As his tapas grew severe, the three worlds began to tremble. In order to save the three worlds and to bless sage Atri, the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara appeared before him. When the sage saw the three gods,he lowered his leg, made obeisance and stood before them with folded hands. They were sitting on a swan, an eagleand a bull respectively. Their faces shone so bright that the sage could not see them. He closed his eyes. Hethen spoke using the most polite and respectful words.
"O great Lords, I am sure you know why I did tapas for such a long time. In order to get a son I prayed to oneamong you. You, who are not visible to ordinary mortals have blessed me with your divine darshan. I implore you to answer my prayer."
The threesome smiled genially and spoke softly. "O great sage Atri we are here knowing full well what your desireis. Your prayer will not go unrewarded. You prayed to us to grace the darshan of all the three of us, the onewho creates, the one who looks after all living beings and the one who causes death. Therefore all the threeof us are here. We donot have any difference in our appearance. You prayed for a son equal to us. As there isnone equal to us in all the three worlds, we have to fulfill your desire ourselves. Therefore we are going to become your sons. As a result of it, your fame will spread and they are going to become world famous." So sayingthey disappered.
Anysuya, the mother
Sati Anasuya was the daughter of Devahuti, the daughter of Swayambhumanu and Kardamaprajapathi. She was a devotedwife. Her devotion to her husband was once touchingly narrated to Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi the consorts of Lord Brahma, Mahavishnu and Maheswara respectively. After listening to the extraordinary story of Anusuya,the divine consorts sent their husband to test whether Narada's account was really authentic. Accordingly theTrimurthis came to Atri's ashram. The sage was deep in meditation. Anasuya was attending to some guests. Whenshe finished her work she was ready to attend to her new guests.
She recived them in the traditional way. Then she got delicious food ready. When she asked them to sit down theyexpressed a strange desire. They said,"If you serve us taking off all your clothes we will eat." She was alonein the ashram. She knew what was happening. She took her husband's holy waterpot, took a handful of water from itand sprinkled it on her guests. All the three turned into small babies. Then she took off her clothes, fed thechildren, foundled them lovingly and then put them in a cradle. Why should a mother feel shy before her own little babies?
Birth of Durvasa
When sage Atri returned to the ashram after getting a boon from the Thrimurthies he was plesantly surprised tosee the Trinity lying in a cradle in his ashrm as small babies.When the divine consorts heard about the plight of their husbands, they came running to Anasuya and begged her to help them get back their husands.
At that moment Anasuya washed her husband's feet and with that water she brought the Trimuthies back to theiroriginal form. Then Atri and Anusuya workshipped the divine couples. They became pleased with Atri and Anasuyaand blessed them. The Trimurthies came to the earth as children to Atri and Anasuya. Brahma was born as Chandra,Vishnu as Dattatreya, and Shankara as Durvasa. Thus sage Atri and Anasuya became parents of Trimurthies. Greatgood luck indeed!
In this way Durvasa was born as the third son of sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. The word Durvasa means one whowears clothes full of dirt. It also means one who came to life after drinking the juice of doorve grass (Thegrass panicum dactylon). Avadhootas do not bother about or have any attachment or special love for any aprticular type of clothing.
Durvasa in the Ramayana of Valmiki
In the Uttarkanda of the Ramayana, after abandoning Sita, Sri Ramayana performed ashwamedha yaga and began torule righteously. Time had come for Sri Rama to sing the swansong to his incarnation. At that time Brahma sentKalapurusha with a message for Sri Rama. The message said that Sri Rama had to return to Vaikunta as Lord Vishnu.
No one was allowed to listen to the conversation between Kalapurusha and Sri Rama and no one should be presentat that point. If anyone broke this rule, such a person would have to be put to death." This was the conditionset by Kalapurusha and Sri Ramachandra accepted the condition.
Sri Ramachandra accepted the condition and said to Lakshmana, "Lakshmana, send away the gate keeper. So long asI am in conference with Kalapurusha, you be there in the place of the gate keeper. You should neither listen toour talk nor peep in. If any one tries to do these two acts he is to be put to death instantly. I have promisedKalapurusha to this effect."
Among the great sages Tri is the foremost. It is said that he born from the eye of Lord Brahma. He reached a stage beyond trigunas namely satva, rajas and tamas.Sage Atri had no children for a long time and in order to get children he began to perform severe tapas to pleasegods. He observed silence for one hundered years and he was in samadhi. He stood on one leg and meditated in God.He had no food except the air he breathered. His only object was to be blessed with a son equal to the lord ofthe three worlds.
As his tapas grew severe, the three worlds began to tremble. In order to save the three worlds and to bless sage Atri, the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara appeared before him. When the sage saw the three gods,he lowered his leg, made obeisance and stood before them with folded hands. They were sitting on a swan, an eagleand a bull respectively. Their faces shone so bright that the sage could not see them. He closed his eyes. Hethen spoke using the most polite and respectful words.
"O great Lords, I am sure you know why I did tapas for such a long time. In order to get a son I prayed to oneamong you. You, who are not visible to ordinary mortals have blessed me with your divine darshan. I implore you to answer my prayer."
The threesome smiled genially and spoke softly. "O great sage Atri we are here knowing full well what your desireis. Your prayer will not go unrewarded. You prayed to us to grace the darshan of all the three of us, the onewho creates, the one who looks after all living beings and the one who causes death. Therefore all the threeof us are here. We donot have any difference in our appearance. You prayed for a son equal to us. As there isnone equal to us in all the three worlds, we have to fulfill your desire ourselves. Therefore we are going to become your sons. As a result of it, your fame will spread and they are going to become world famous." So sayingthey disappered.
Anysuya, the mother
Sati Anasuya was the daughter of Devahuti, the daughter of Swayambhumanu and Kardamaprajapathi. She was a devotedwife. Her devotion to her husband was once touchingly narrated to Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi the consorts of Lord Brahma, Mahavishnu and Maheswara respectively. After listening to the extraordinary story of Anusuya,the divine consorts sent their husband to test whether Narada's account was really authentic. Accordingly theTrimurthis came to Atri's ashram. The sage was deep in meditation. Anasuya was attending to some guests. Whenshe finished her work she was ready to attend to her new guests.
She recived them in the traditional way. Then she got delicious food ready. When she asked them to sit down theyexpressed a strange desire. They said,"If you serve us taking off all your clothes we will eat." She was alonein the ashram. She knew what was happening. She took her husband's holy waterpot, took a handful of water from itand sprinkled it on her guests. All the three turned into small babies. Then she took off her clothes, fed thechildren, foundled them lovingly and then put them in a cradle. Why should a mother feel shy before her own little babies?
Birth of Durvasa
When sage Atri returned to the ashram after getting a boon from the Thrimurthies he was plesantly surprised tosee the Trinity lying in a cradle in his ashrm as small babies.When the divine consorts heard about the plight of their husbands, they came running to Anasuya and begged her to help them get back their husands.
At that moment Anasuya washed her husband's feet and with that water she brought the Trimuthies back to theiroriginal form. Then Atri and Anusuya workshipped the divine couples. They became pleased with Atri and Anasuyaand blessed them. The Trimurthies came to the earth as children to Atri and Anasuya. Brahma was born as Chandra,Vishnu as Dattatreya, and Shankara as Durvasa. Thus sage Atri and Anasuya became parents of Trimurthies. Greatgood luck indeed!
In this way Durvasa was born as the third son of sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. The word Durvasa means one whowears clothes full of dirt. It also means one who came to life after drinking the juice of doorve grass (Thegrass panicum dactylon). Avadhootas do not bother about or have any attachment or special love for any aprticular type of clothing.
Durvasa in the Ramayana of Valmiki
In the Uttarkanda of the Ramayana, after abandoning Sita, Sri Ramayana performed ashwamedha yaga and began torule righteously. Time had come for Sri Rama to sing the swansong to his incarnation. At that time Brahma sentKalapurusha with a message for Sri Rama. The message said that Sri Rama had to return to Vaikunta as Lord Vishnu.
No one was allowed to listen to the conversation between Kalapurusha and Sri Rama and no one should be presentat that point. If anyone broke this rule, such a person would have to be put to death." This was the conditionset by Kalapurusha and Sri Ramachandra accepted the condition.
Sri Ramachandra accepted the condition and said to Lakshmana, "Lakshmana, send away the gate keeper. So long asI am in conference with Kalapurusha, you be there in the place of the gate keeper. You should neither listen toour talk nor peep in. If any one tries to do these two acts he is to be put to death instantly. I have promisedKalapurusha to this effect."