Vaishampayana Narrates Kacha's Mission to Obtain Sanjivani

Many years before Yayati was born, a great fight raged between the gods and the demons for control of the three worlds. The gods had appointed the sage Brihaspati as their priest. The demons had appointed the wise Ushanas—Shukra. The two Brahmanas were bitter rivals. The gods would kill demons in battle. Shukra would revive them with his secret knowledge, sanjivani. The revived demons would fight again. When the demons killed gods, Brihaspati could not bring them back. He did not possess the sanjivani. The gods were plunged into misery. Afraid of Shukra's power, the gods went to Brihaspati's eldest son, Kacha. "Please help us in this supreme task," they said. "Bring us that knowledge from Shukra." They instructed him to go to Shukra, who lived with the demon king Vrishaparva, and become his disciple. "You alone are capable. You are certain to obtain the knowledge by propitiating Devayani, the beloved daughter of that great-souled one, with your conduct, magnanimity, sweetness, action and self-control." Honoured by the gods, Kacha agreed. He went to Vrishaparva's capital, found Shukra, and prostrated himself. "O illustrious one! Please accept me as your disciple. I am the grandson of Angirasa and the son of Brihaspati. I am known by the name of Kacha. Accepting you as my supreme preceptor, I will practise brahmacharya (celibate studentship) for a thousand years." Shukra welcomed him. "You are extremely welcome. You deserve respect, and by doing that, Brihaspati will also be honoured." He commanded Kacha to take the vow. Kacha began his worship. He pleased his preceptor and, with constant attention, singing, dancing, and offerings of flowers and fruit, he pleased Devayani. She was a maiden who had just attained the bloom of her youth. When they were alone, she sang with him and sported with him. Five hundred years passed. The demons discovered his identity. One day, seeing him alone in the forest tending cattle, they killed him. They chopped his body into pieces as small as sesamum seeds and fed them to jackals. The cows returned home without their cowherd. Devayani saw the returning herd and knew. "O father! Kacha is not to be seen. I cannot live without him." Shukra replied, "If he is dead, I will revive him." Using the sanjivani, he summoned Kacha. Kacha joyfully reappeared. The demons killed him a second time. They burnt his body, ground the ashes, and mixed them into wine, which they then served to Shukra. When Devayani again reported Kacha missing, Shukra summoned him once more. Summoned by the knowledge, but now trapped inside his preceptor's stomach, Kacha softly replied from within. Shukra asked how he came to be there. Kacha explained: the demons had mixed his ashes into the wine Shukra had drunk. Shukra turned to his distraught daughter. "O Devayani! Kacha is inside me. He can only reappear by ripping my stomach apart." Devayani was torn. "Both sorrows will burn me like fire—your destruction and Kacha's. I will have no protection after Kacha's death. And if you die, I will not be able to bear life." Shukra then addressed the student inside him. "O Brihaspati’s son! You have attained success, since Devayani worships you so much. Unless you are Indra in Kacha's disguise, accept today the knowledge of bringing the dead back to life. No one can emerge alive from my stomach, but a Brahmana cannot be killed. Therefore, accept the knowledge I give you. Return to life as my son. Possessed of the knowledge, bring me back to life after I leave my body. When you emerge, act in accordance with dharma." Receiving the knowledge from his preceptor, Kacha emerged from Shukra's right side, like the full moon emerging from a cloud. He saw his preceptor's lifeless body. Using the very secret he had just been given, Kacha revived Shukra. Then Kacha paid homage. "The preceptor is an object of worship. The giver of knowledge is supreme. He is the most precious of all precious objects."