Durvasa
Avatar of Shiva
In Hindu scriptures, Durvasa (Sanskrit: दुर्वासा, IAST: Durvāsā lit."difficult to live with"), also known as Durvasas (Sanskrit: दुर्वासस्), is a legendary rishi (sage). He is the son of Anasuya and Atri. According to some Puranas, Durvasa is a partial avatar of Shiva, known for his irrascibility and short tempered behaviour. Wherever he goes, he is received with great reverence by humans and devas alike.
Curses and boons
The rishi Durvasa, being short-tempered, is said to have both cursed and gifted boons to several notable deities and people in the Hindu scriptures. Some of them include:
Curses
Indra, whom he cursed to lose all his powers, after Indra's elephant Airavata threw down a rather fragrant garland given by Durvasa to Indra.
Saraswati, whom he cursed to be born as a human because she laughed at his incorrect recitation of the Vedas. Ubhay Bharati is believed to be the human incarnation of the Goddess Saraswati on the earth during 8th Century CE.
Rukmini, whom he cursed to be separated from her husband, Krishna, because she drank water without seeking Durvasa's permission.
Shakuntala, who was so engrossed in thoughts of her husband Dushyanta that she did not offer Durvasa hospitality while at the ashrama (hermitage) of sage Kanva, which enraged Durvasa rishi, who cursed her that Dushyanta would forget her. Durvasa later relented that Dushyanta would remember her when she presented his ring (that he had previously given to her) to him.
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This entry incorporates text from “Durvasa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.