Durvāsā
c. 1300 BCE · Chitrakoot
Legendary sage with no historical existence; in tradition a portion or son of Atri, famed for his fierce temper and powerful curses. The date is a conventional placement and asserts no historicity.
Durvāsā is a legendary sage of the epics and Puranas, traditionally regarded as a son of Atri and Anasūyā and, in the Puranic accounts, as an incarnation of Shiva's wrathful aspect — born of the god's anger deposited into Anasūyā, which is said to explain his famously short temper. He is renowned for the curses and boons that drive many narratives: his brief, demanding visits and explosive anger feature in stories from the Mahābhārata (where he grants the young Kuntī a mantra to invoke the gods) to the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan), set in motion when his curse causes Indra and the devas to lose their splendour. He is a wholly mythological figure.
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Chitrakoot
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Jewish world
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