Śarmiṣṭhā

Śarmiṣṭhā was the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan, the king of the asuras. She became the second wife of Yayāti, a great king of the Lunar dynasty. She is the mother of Pūru, from whom the Paurava line comes. The Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas belong to that line.

Parentage

The Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa lists her father, Vṛṣaparvan (called Vṛṣaparvā there), among the chief Dānavas. These are the hundred Dānavas, the sons of Danu by Kaśyapa Prajāpati. So Śarmiṣṭhā belongs to the Dānava line, which comes from Danu. The Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa calls her father the rākṣasa-rāja (king of the rākṣasas) Vṛṣaparvan, and calls her the second wife of Yayāti.

The quarrel with Devayānī

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa says Śarmiṣṭhā lived as a princess of high rank, with a thousand companions around her. One day she and Devayānī, the daughter of Śukrācārya, played with all their companions in the royal gardens of Vṛṣaparvan’s city. They bathed in the lake. Bhagavān Śiva passed by, and in the hurry to cover themselves Śarmiṣṭhā took up Devayānī’s garment instead of her own.

Devayānī answered her sharply and proudly. She spoke of the greatness of the brāhmaṇa line, and said Śarmiṣṭhā’s act was like a dog touching the offering of a yajña (fire ritual). Śarmiṣṭhā was stung by this. She called Devayānī a beggar who lives on the gifts of her father’s employer. In the heat of the quarrel she seized Devayānī’s garment and pushed her into a dry well.

Becoming Devayānī’s dāsī

Devayānī told her father Śukrācārya what had happened. He was so angry that he decided to leave Vṛṣaparvan’s service. For an asura king this meant losing his guru. It meant losing the protective mantras, the knowledge of Mṛtasañjīvanī (the power to bring the dead back to life), and all the strength that Śukrācārya’s blessing gave. Vṛṣaparvan fell at Śukrācārya’s feet on the road, begged his forgiveness and promised to meet any condition Devayānī named.

Devayānī’s condition was that Śarmiṣṭhā, the king’s own daughter, must go with her as a dāsī (maidservant), together with a thousand companions, when Devayānī left for her marriage. Śarmiṣṭhā understood what this meant and accepted without resistance. She saw it as her duty to her father and his kingdom. She went with a thousand companions to Yayāti’s court and served Devayānī faithfully.

Marriage to Yayāti and her sons

Time passed. Devayānī bore sons to Yayāti, and Śarmiṣṭhā’s wish for children grew. She was a king’s daughter, and the wish for children was a rightful part of dharma. One day she found Yayāti alone and asked him sincerely to give her sons.

Yayāti thought carefully about dharma. He also remembered Śukrācārya’s warning. But Śarmiṣṭhā was a king’s daughter who rightly wanted sons, and Yayāti saw the moment as set by fate. He agreed. Śarmiṣṭhā bore him three sons: Druhyu, Anu and Pūru. The Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa also names the three sons as Druhyu, Anu (called Cānu there) and Pūru.

Later Devayānī learned of this. She was deeply hurt and went back to her father. Śukrācārya cursed Yayāti with early old age (a śāpa). That curse changed the rest of Yayāti’s life and led in the end to his well-known renunciation.

Pūru and the Paurava line

Pūru was the youngest of Śarmiṣṭhā’s three sons and the best of them. The Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa names him as the youngest of Yayāti’s sons, the one who took his father’s old age in exchange for his own youth. By this he showed the highest form of devotion of a son to his father. Yayāti finally crowned Pūru as cakravartī, the ruler of the whole earth.

The Paurava dynasty begins with Pūru. The Kauravas, the Pāṇḍavas and, in the end, Parīkṣit Mahārāja came from this line. So Śarmiṣṭhā, the daughter of a Dānava father and the queen of a Lunar-dynasty king, is the mother of the ancestor of the Bhārata heroes of the Mahābhārata. The Vāyu Purāṇa says her story is told more fully in other Purāṇas.

Sources

• Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 7
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skandha, Chapter 18
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 22
• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 26–27