Mahabharata – 102

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

Kacha as the disciple of Sukracharya used to lead the cows of Sukracharya to the meadows so that they could graze to their heart’s fill. One evening Devyani to her utter surprise found the cows back home.But Kacha was not there. Devayani,had some apprehansion.She instantaly went   to her father  & said  --- Oh Father! You are engaged in evening rites. The Sun also has set. The cows have returned home without him who takes care of them. Kacha is, indeed, not to be seen. It is plain that Kacha has been lost, or killed. Truly I say,Oh Father!, Without him I will not live!.

Sukracharya hearing this said, I will revive him by saying, Oh Kacha come back home presently.Then having applied  the science of  Sanjivani, Sukracharya summoned Kacha. And on summonning, Kacha appeared there in  gladness tearing  the bodies of the dogs. He was cut into thousand pieces by the demons & were devoured by number less dogs. And it was a miracle that those pieces came out separately from the tummy of each dog. And those pieces were welded together into a whole & Kachaa resurrected. He stood before his preceptor. He was the same Kacha in glory & appearance who was there at Sukracharya’s household presently before he was assassinated by the demons.  

When Kacha was asked about the cause of his delay in coming back from the woods by Devyani, he told her --  Oh  fortunate lady!' Burdened with sacrificial fuel, Kusa grass, and logs of wood,I was coming towards our abode. I sat under a banyan tree. The cows were grazing near by. The Asuras, seeing me, asked 'Who are you?' In reply I said, 'I am the son of Vrihaspati.'   My name is Kacha. As soon as I said this, the Danavas killed me,and broke my body into pieces & gave my remains away to dogs. And then they went home in  gladness. Oh amiable one, summoned by the high-souled Bhargava, I come before you fully revived.