Durvāsa Avatāra

The Durvāsa Avatāra is the birth of Bhagavān Śiva’s aṃśa (part) as Durvāsa, the son of Atri and Anasūyā. It is told in Chapter 19 of the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa. Three sons were born from one tapas of Atri: Candra from the aṃśa of Brahmā, Dattātreya from the aṃśa of Vishṇu, and Durvāsa from the aṃśa of Śiva. The chapter then gives four parīkshās (tests) in which Durvāsa tested great devotees: Ambarīsha, Rāma, Kṛshṇa and Draupadī. In the Śaiva view, Durvāsa was always testing Bhagavān Śiva’s own devotees, through Bhagavān Śiva’s own power.

Atri’s tapas and the birth of three sons

Atri was a brahmarshi, a son of Brahmā, the husband of Anasūyā, and learned in Brahman. He received Brahmā’s gracious command and went with Anasūyā to the Tryakshakulā mountain to do tapas for sons. On the bank of the Nirvindhyā river he practised prāṇāyāma and tapas with perfect steadiness for a hundred years. He had decided in his heart that only Bhagavān Śiva could give him the wished-for vara (boon). He knew him as the one without a second (advaita), without cause (akāraṇa) and without change (avikāra), the supreme Parameśvara. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

His tapas was so strong that a great column of fire rose from his head and began to burn all the worlds. The devas, the maharshis and Indra were tormented by the flames. They fled first to Brahmaloka. From there Brahmā took them all to Vishṇuloka, and from there to Rudraloka. Bhagavān Vishṇu praised Bhagavān Śiva and described the crisis caused by Atri’s flame of tapas. Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara talked together about what was best for the worlds, and all three went to Atri’s āśrama. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

Atri saw the Trimūrti coming with all their signs. He bowed to them with bhakti and praised them. Then, full of wonder, he asked: “I meditated only on the supreme Īśvara, on that one Parameśvara who bears the name Īśvara in all the worlds, Śiva together with Pārvatī. Why have all three of you come? Please clear my doubt, and then grant me the vara I wish for.”

The three answered: “O maharshi, as you resolved in your saṅkalpa, so it has come to be. We three are one and the same. From our three aṃśas three sons will be born to you.” They then went back gladly to their own homes. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

In due time, from the aṃśa of Brahmā, Candra was born. When the devas threw him into the ocean, he rose out of it again. From the aṃśa of Vishṇu, Datta (Dattātreya) was born, who set up and spread the saṃnyāsa-mārga (the path of renunciation). From the aṃśa of Śiva, Durvāsa was born. He upheld dharma in the world. He carried Bhagavān Śiva’s krodha-śakti (power of anger) as his tool, and through a series of parīkshās he tested the spiritual steadiness of many great beings. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

The Ambarīsha parīkshā

The first and best-known test was that of Ambarīsha. He was emperor of the earth of the seven dvīpas and a devotee of Hari, and he kept the Ekādaśī vrata (fast) with perfect steadiness.

When the Ekādaśī fast ended and Dvādaśī came, a day of very short length, Ambarīsha was about to do his pāraṇa, the breaking of the fast. Durvāsa arrived with many disciples, and Ambarīsha invited him to dine. Durvāsa went to the river to bathe, and he stayed away on purpose, wishing to test the king. The Dvādaśī tithi was passing, and letting the vrata be broken would have been a fault against dharma. Following the guidance of the śāstra, Ambarīsha took a sip of water alone. This breaks the fast without eating food. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

Durvāsa came back and learned what had happened. He was filled with terrible anger. He blamed the king in harsh words and got ready to burn him with the fire of his tapas. At that moment the Sudarśana cakra, which stays with Ambarīsha as his guardian in a form of Īśvara, blazed up to protect the king. It turned on Durvāsa, ready to consume him. But for a moment the cakra was veiled by Bhagavān Śiva’s māyā, and it did not recognise that Durvāsa was Bhagavān Śiva’s own form. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

Then a voice from the sky (ākāśavāṇī) spoke the truth:

“This Sudarśana cakra was given by Śaṃbhu to Hari. O King, now calm this cakra that is throwing its flames at Durvāsa. This Durvāsa is the direct form of Śiva himself. He is the very one who gave this cakra to Vishṇu. O Mahārāja, do not take him for an ordinary muni. This mahāṛshi came to test your dharma. Take refuge in him at once, or all will be destroyed.”

Ambarīsha now knew that Durvāsa was Bhagavān Śiva’s own avatāra, and that Sudarśana was in the end Bhagavān Śiva’s weapon given to Vishṇu. In his prayer he praised Durvāsa as the form of Rudra. The cakra became fully calm. Durvāsa was now completely satisfied. He had seen Ambarīsha’s firm hold on dharma and his knowing of the truth. He dined with full honour, gave the king his blessings and varas, and went back to his āśrama. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

The Rāma parīkshā

Durvāsa also tested Śrī Rāma. In this episode Kāla (Time in person) took the form of a muni and made a secret agreement with Rāma: no one was to interrupt their meeting, on pain of being given up. At that very moment Durvāsa, who knew of the agreement and wished to test Rāma’s steadiness, insisted on meeting Rāma at once. He sent Lakshmaṇa to announce his arrival. So the agreement was broken through Lakshmaṇa. Rāma kept the terms of his vow and gave up his dear brother Lakshmaṇa.

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā says that this account is widely known and has been told in full by the maharshis in many Purāṇas, and it does not tell it further here. Durvāsa saw Rāma’s great steadiness in keeping his vow of dharma even at such a cost. He was deeply pleased and granted Rāma a vara. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

The Kṛshṇa parīkshā

Kṛshṇa was famous as a great devotee of brāhmaṇas, who fed countless brāhmaṇas every day with the finest foods. Durvāsa went to test his steadiness. Kṛshṇa welcomed the mahāṛshi himself with respect and served him with full devotion.

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā says that Durvāsa rode in Kṛshṇa’s chariot, with Kṛshṇa and Rukmiṇī seated in it, and that Kṛshṇa himself drove the chariot as the mahāṛshi’s charioteer. At last Durvāsa got down from the chariot. He had seen Kṛshṇa’s excellent, firm devotion to brāhmaṇas, and he was fully satisfied. He gave Kṛshṇa the vara of vajra-kāya, a body firm as the vajra, not to be broken in any part. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

The Draupadī parīkshā

One day Durvāsa was bathing in the Gaṅgā when the current swept his garment away. In his shame the mahāṛshi looked around in every direction. Draupadī was bathing nearby. She understood his plight and at once tore a piece from her own garment and respectfully offered it to the ṛshi to cover him. The torn piece, carried by the current, reached Durvāsa. He took it with deep thanks and wore it.

Durvāsa was deeply pleased with Draupadī’s selfless devotion and quick thinking. He gave her the famous vara of vastra-vṛddhi: her garments would always grow and multiply. By the power of this vara, the akshaya-vastra (the unfailing garment) appeared in the dice-hall when Duḥśāsana tried to strip her. It was also a source of happiness and protection for Draupadī and the Pāṇḍavas through all their trials. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

Dharma and saṃnyāsa established

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā records that Durvāsa, the mahāṛshi born of Bhagavān Śiva’s aṃśa, did two great works for the whole world through the power of his brahma-tejas. He set up and kept going the ordered sequence of Vedic ritual (karma-krama) in the world. He also brought in and spread the saṃnyāsa-paddhati, the formal path of renunciation. He lifted up many people by his high teaching, giving jñāna (knowledge) to countless people and leading them to moksha. (Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19)

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19