Mahabharata – 101

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

The preceptor of the demons the great Sukracharya granted Kacha’s prayer for discipleship with him.So Kacha’s internship at Sukracharya’s house started.It goes without saying that the discples in earlier days used to live in the very house of their preceptor. And during Kacha’s stay at Sukracharya’s house kacha met the exceedingly beautiful Devyani the daughter of Sukracharya.She was  bright with extraordinary intelligence. Kacha offered her fruits & flowers. Devyani readily accepted them with grace. Of course, Kacha spent much of his time in prayers & meditation. Otherwise Devyani would be there as the company of Kacha. Devyani was very fond of Kacha.His divine grace,& his graceful manners enamoured Devyani.

Five hundred years passed by in such idyllic environment. In the meantime the demons came to know who Kacha was & they were suspicious of the intention of Kacha.Once Kacha learns the art of reviving the dead  & goes back to the gods the demons will be outwitted by the gods.There was no point in asking the great Brahamin Sukracharya to turn out Kacha from his household & from his discipleship. One day  Kacha was left to himself alone in the woods reclining below a banyan tree. At a distance in the meadow a few cows were grazing.Kacha was looking after the cows which belonged to his preceptor Sukracharya.And lo! All of a sudden a few demons showed up & killed Kacha with a hammer.But Sukracharya could bring back the fleeting breath of Kacha.

The demons were however not given up.Another time they found Kacha left alone in the forest.The demons did not waste a minute.They arrested Kacha & killed him.But Sukracharya might revive the life of Kacha.So they cut the dead body of Kacha into thousand pieces. This is not all. The demons summoned some hundred dogs. And they feasted on the limbs & the flesh of Kacha. Thus Kacha seemed to have vanished from the  existence. The demons were very happy.There would be no more Kacha to learn from Sukracharya &the demons celebrated the killing of Kacha with lot of feasting on food & wine.