Kaca
Kaca, simply known as Kacha, Sanskrit: कच, Telugu: కచుడు, Hindi: कच.
Kaca is the son of Bṛhaspati, the divine guru of the devas. The devas sent him to study under Śukrācārya, the guru of the asuras, for one purpose: to learn the Saṃjīvanī vidyā, the knowledge that brings the dead back to life. Jealous asuras killed him three times. At last he was swallowed and placed inside Śukrācārya’s own body. His firmness, the protection of Devayānī’s affection, and finally his guru’s grace let him come out with the vidyā. He refused to marry Devayānī, because she was his guru’s daughter. The curses they spoke in turn began the events that lead to the account of Yayāti.
Who Kaca is and why he was sent
The Matsya Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 25) says the devas were suffering heavy losses in their wars with the asuras. Śukrācārya could bring fallen asuras back to life with the Saṃjīvanī vidyā, and the devas had no power like it. The assembly of devas decided that the only answer was for someone to learn this vidyā from Śukra.
Kaca was chosen. He was young, learned, of fine character and looks, and, as Bṛhaspati’s son, fit to receive brāhmaṇa teaching.
Discipleship and three deaths
Kaca came to Śukrācārya as a student and was accepted. For years he served his guru faithfully and did all the duties of a brahmacārī (a student): he gathered wood and flowers, tended the sacred fires and attended to his guru’s needs. During this time Devayānī, Śukra’s daughter, grew deeply attached to Kaca (Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 25).
The asuras saw the danger Kaca brought, and they killed him three times:
First death. They killed him, mixed his flesh with salt and fed it to jackals in the forest. Śukrācārya called him back to life from inside the bodies of the jackals.
Second death. They killed him again and threw his body into the ocean. Śukrācārya brought him back from the deep waters.
Third death. The asuras killed him, burned the body to ash, mixed the ash into wine and served the wine to Śukrācārya himself. Devayānī again saw that Kaca was missing. Śukra used his divine sight and found Kaca alive inside his own stomach.
Born from the guru’s side
Kaca was alive inside Śukrācārya but had no way out. Śukrācārya found an answer through jñāna (knowledge). He taught Kaca the whole Saṃjīvanī vidyā from inside his own body. Then, when Kaca came out by tearing through his teacher’s side, he could at once use the vidyā to bring his guru back to life.
This is what happened. Kaca burst through Śukrācārya’s side, and Śukra died from the tearing. Kaca at once used the Saṃjīvanī to revive him. This was Kaca’s second birth, from within the body of his guru.
Devayānī’s proposal and the curses
When Kaca finished his time as a student and got ready to return to the devas, Devayānī told him openly that she loved him and asked him to marry her (Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 26). Kaca refused, and he was truly sad as he did so. She was the daughter of his guru, so by the dharma of the guru-śishya bond she stood as a guru-putrikā (a guru’s daughter), equal to a sister.
The refusal rested on dharma, but it hurt Devayānī deeply. She cursed him: the Saṃjīvanī vidyā would not work in his own hands. He could teach it to others, but he could never gain from it himself. Kaca then cursed Devayānī in turn: no man of dharma would ever take her as his wife. With these words they parted.
What followed
Kaca returned to the devas with the Saṃjīvanī vidyā and taught it to Bṛhaspati. This changed the course of the wars between the devas and the asuras. Kaca’s curse on Devayānī came true in her marriage to the kshatriya Yayāti, which took place in unusual circumstances, and not to a brāhmaṇa of ordinary standing (Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 26).
Sources
- Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 25–26
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 71–79