DEVAYANI, SHARMISHTHA AND YAYATI Author: ASHOK BANKER
About the Book
One of the least-known, yet most poignant love stories, is the tale of Devayani, daughter of Shukracharya, Guru of the Asuras, and Kacha son of Brihaspati, Guru of the Devas. The Devas or Gods of the Vedic age were eternal enemies of the Asuras or Demonic races. How could the son of the preceptor of the Gods possibly hope to find love and happiness with the daughter of the preceptor of the Demons? Yet love flowers in the unlikeliest places and so Kacha and Devayani began to dream the impossible dream. Their love was doomed to end tragically but the how and wherefore of the tragedy is what makes their story so unforgettable. But the story doesnt end there. Instead, it segues (after a gap of a few years) into another: the love triangle of Devayani, her former friend Sharmishtha, and the man they both loved, Yayati. After a quarrel with her friend Sharmishtha, Devayani used her fathers influence and power to force her friend Sharmishtha to live out the rest of her life as Devayanis personal maidservant. One day, Devayani found herself trapped at the bottom of a well deep in the forest. Soon after, a stranger wandering through the forest, chanced across her.. On learning that he was Yayati, king of a powerful nation, she blackmailed him into a relationship. But unknown to Devayani, Yayati fell in love with Sharmishtha, resulting in a love triangle that presages the plots of countless present-day soap operas. Read on to see how Ashoks storytelling shines brilliant light upon this gem pried loose from the mosaic of his own Mahabharata Series.
