DEVAYANI AND KACHA

Kacha narrated it all, in spite of the inconvenience imposed by his position.

Vaisampayana continued: The high-souled and austere Sukracharya of immeasurable greatness, became angry at the deceit practised on him in his wine, and proclaimed for the benefit of humanity:

'Virtue will desert the man who through lack of wisdom drinks wine. He will be an object of scorn to all, This is my message to humanity, which should be regarded as an imperative scriptural injunction.'

Then he turned to his daughter Devayani and said:

"Dear daughter, here is a problem for you. For Kacha to live, he must rend my stomach and come out of it, and that means death to me. His life ran only be bought by my death."

Devayani began to weep and said: "Alas! it is death to me either way-for if either of you perish, I shall not survive." Sukra charya sought a way out of the difficulty, the real explanation of it all flashed on him.

He said to Kacha: "O son of Brihaspati, I now see with what object you came ... and verily you have secured it! I must bring you out to life for the sake of  Devayani, but equally for her sake I must not die either.

The only way is to initiate you in the art of Sanjivini so that you can bring me back to life after I shall have died when a way is torn out through my entrails for you. You should employ the know ledge I am going to impart to you and revive me, so that Devayani need not grieve for either of us."

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