Kaca and Devayānī (Matsya Purāṇa)

Kaca was the son of Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas. He went to Śukrācārya, the guru of the asuras, to learn the Saṃjīvanī vidyā, the knowledge that brings the dead back to life. The account is about a disciple’s service, his courage and his firmness in dharma. Kaca was killed by the asuras again and again. Devayānī, the daughter of Śukrācārya, fell in love with him. He refused her, and each cursed the other.

Why the Saṃjīvanī vidyā was needed

The devas and asuras fought without end. Śukrācārya, the guru of the asuras, knew the Saṃjīvanī vidyā. Whenever asuras fell in battle, he brought them back to life. The devas did not have this knowledge, and they lost far more warriors in spite of their divine strength. Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas, and the assembly of devas decided that their only way was to get the vidyā from Śukrācārya. But Śukrācārya would not teach it to any deva.

So Bṛhaspati sent his own son Kaca to the āśrama of Śukrācārya. Kaca was a young brāhmaṇa, learned, handsome and of good character. He was to ask to be accepted as a disciple. The devas hoped that what could not be won by force or by a direct request might be earned by long and loyal service.

Kaca becomes a disciple

Kaca came to Śukrācārya with humility and respect. He told him that he was the son of Bṛhaspati and asked to be taken as a śishya (disciple). Śukrācārya accepted him. Kaca lived in the āśrama and served his guru with his whole heart. He did all the duties of a celibate student. He tended the sacred fires, gathered fuel and flowers, and looked after every need of his guru and the āśrama.

Devayānī, the daughter of Śukrācārya, was drawn to Kaca’s beauty and charm from the start. She showed him affection and spent time with him. The asuras in the āśrama and around it saw the danger. If Kaca learned the Saṃjīvanī vidyā and went back to the devas, the balance of power in the wars would turn sharply against the asuras.

Killed three times

The asuras first killed Kaca, mixed his flesh with salt and fed it to the jackals of the forest. Devayānī noticed that Kaca was gone and told her father. Śukrācārya used the power of his knowledge and called to Kaca. Though dead and eaten, Kaca answered from inside the jackals. Śukrācārya brought him back to life, and Kaca came out alive from the bodies of the jackals.

The asuras killed him a second time and threw his body into the ocean. Again Devayānī noticed he was missing, and again Śukrācārya brought him back to life. This time he called Kaca up from the depths of the sea.

Then the asuras tried something harsher. They killed Kaca a third time and burned his body to ash. They mixed the ash into wine and served the wine to Śukrācārya himself. Śukrācārya did not suspect it and drank. When Devayānī again saw that Kaca was missing, Śukrācārya looked with his divine sight. He found that Kaca was alive inside his own stomach, held within his teacher’s body.

Kaca is born from Śukra’s side

Śukrācārya faced a terrible choice. To bring Kaca back to life, Kaca would have to come out of his body. But there was no way out of the stomach except by tearing through the body. Śukrācārya solved it with wisdom. From inside his own stomach he taught Kaca the Saṃjīvanī vidyā. Then Kaca could tear his way out through his guru’s side and use the vidyā at once to bring Śukrācārya back to life.

Kaca agreed. Śukrācārya taught him the whole Saṃjīvanī vidyā. Kaca burst out through his teacher’s side. Śukrācārya died from the tearing. Kaca at once used the vidyā and brought his guru back to life. Śukrācārya woke, healed, and marvelled at what had happened.

Devayānī’s proposal and Kaca’s refusal

Kaca had received the Saṃjīvanī vidyā and finished his time as a disciple, and he got ready to leave. Devayānī had loved him all through his time in the āśrama. Now she spoke openly. She told him of her love and asked him to marry her.

Kaca answered firmly but gently. He was the son of Bṛhaspati and a disciple of Śukrācārya. Devayānī was the daughter of his guru, a guru-putrikā, and so stood in the place of a sister. To marry her would break the most basic dharma between guru and śishya. He could not accept.

The two curses

Devayānī was hurt by his refusal. She put a śāpa (curse) on Kaca: the Saṃjīvanī vidyā that he had learned would be useless to him. It would never work when Kaca himself needed to use it.

Kaca was sad, but he answered with a śāpa of his own. Devayānī had cursed him for keeping dharma, so no man of dharma would ever marry her.

With these words they parted. Kaca went back to the devas with the Saṃjīvanī vidyā. Devayānī stayed behind, and the words of the śāpa stayed in both their hearts.

What followed

With Kaca’s return, the devas had the knowledge of bringing fallen warriors back to life. Devayānī was later married to Yayāti, a king of the Aila (lunar) line. Śukrācārya arranged the marriage in the unusual circumstances of the rescue of Devayānī from the well.

Sources

• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 25: the need for the Saṃjīvanī vidyā, Kaca’s discipleship, the three killings, and Kaca’s birth from Śukra’s side
• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 26: Devayānī’s proposal, Kaca’s refusal and the two curses
• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 26–27: Devayānī’s marriage to Yayāti