Mahabharata - Story of the Vasus

The Story of the Vasus

The sage Vasistha was the son of  Varuna, who was the Lord of all aquatic creatures and of the ocean. Vasistha was a great sage who lived in a peaceful hermitage near mount Meru. Surabhi, the celestial cow who was also a daughter of Daksha, had a daughter named Nandini. Nandini was capable of granting all desires and hence was known as Kamadhenu (the wish fulfilling cow). Vasistha had acquired Nandini in the course of his ascetic practices. Nandini loved sage Vasistha and Vasistha looked upon her as his own daughter.

Once, the eight Vasus, who are a class of celestial beings, led by Prthu, had come to the woods where the hermitage of Vasistha was located. The Vasus enjoyed themselves in that serene and lovely wood. However the wife of one of the Vasus called Dyau, had seen Nandini and wanted the cow. The Vasus therefore stole the cow and left the hermitage. When Vasistha returned in the evening after collecting his days share of the fruits and roots, he did not see Nandini anywhere and was worried. He sat on meditation and saw by spiritual vision everything that had happened. His wrath was ignited and he cursed the Vasus to be born on the earth because of this grave sin of stealing. The Vasus came to know this and proceeded quickly to his ashrama to beg his forgiveness. Vasistha said that all the Vasus would be able to return to the celestial region soon, except Dyau at whose behest they committed the sin. Dyau will remain on the earth for a long period, will not beget any sons or daughters and will have much sorrows and tribulations. Because he had fallen on account of the entreaties of a lady, he would have to abstain from the companion of the women in his earthly life. The Vasus were sorry at this incident and they returned mournfully. They then met Ganga, the celestial river and requested her that they be their sons in their earthly incarnation. Ganga agreed to this. It was arranged between them that the Vasus would be born as sons of Ganga who would be married to Shantanu, the king of Hastinapur and the son of Pratip. After their birth Ganga would throw them into the river and thus liberate them from the terrible curse of Vasistha.

Ganga therefore assumed a human form and married Shantanu. They had eight sons. Ganga had made a condition before marriage that Shantanu would not be able to question any of her deeds. When a son was born, Ganga would throw him in the river. In this way she got rid of the seven sons and thus liberate the seven Vasus. But when she was about to do the same with the eighth one, Shantanu requested her not to do so. Ganga then revealed to Shantanu the story of the Vasus and true to her promise, she left the king to her heavenly abode, giving him the eighth son, who would grow to become Devavrata or Bhisma, the grand old patriarch of the Kuru kingdom. Bhisma, in order to help his father marry Satyavati, took a great vow that he would remain celibate all his life and would avoid company of women, thus fulfilling Vasistha's curse. He was afflicted with much sorrow on account of the untimely death of his brothers and the bitter rivalry between Pandavas, the sons of Pandu, and the Kauravas with Duryadhana in their helm. He ultimately left his mortal coils after the great battle in Kurukshetra and regained his celestial position.