Yayati was a brave king depicted in the Puranas who had to surrender his conscience and dignity to destiny. Though Yayati is a main character of the story, he is not a real hero; in fact, he becomes a villain, though forced by the situation. Kach is the real hero of this story, the son of Dev Guru, Brihaspati.

The Story of Yayati:

The story of Yayati revolves around four main characters: Yayati, his wives, Devyani and Sharmishtha; Kach, his friend and philosopher.

Yayati was born as the youngest son of King Nahusha, king of Hastinapur, who had defeated Indra, the king of paradise, but was cursed by a sage because he lusted for Indra’s wife, Indrani. One sage curses Nahush that his sons would never become happy in their lives. When Yayati’s elder brother, Yati, comes to know about the curse, he leaves the palace, enters the jungle, and becomes an ascetic. As Yayati enters adolescence, he falls in love with a slave, Alaka. He also has a physical relationship with her. When Yayati’s mother comes to know about this, she kills Alaka. This shocks Yayati, and he starts hating his mother.

Meanwhile, the war between gods and demons becomes unbalanced as the teacher of demons, Shukracharya, learns Sanjivani Vidya (an art of resurrecting a dead body). Shukracharya starts to resurrect all the demons that the gods kill. The demons are about to win the war. Kach, son of the teacher of gods, goes to the ashram of Shukracharya and starts serving him faithfully. He wins his confidence. The daughter of Shukracharya, Devyani, falls in love with Kach. Kach also pretends to love her. Once Devyani compels Shukracharya to use Sanjivani Vidya to save the life of Kach, Kach also gets the knowledge of Sanjivani Vidya. He then leaves Shukracharya and Devyani. This shocks Devyani, and she curses Kach.

Sharmishtha is the princess of the king of demons. In the dramatic sequences, Sharmishtha and Devyani become hostile to each other. Devyani forces Sharmishtha to become her slave after getting married to Yayati and takes Sharmishtha with her to Hastinapur, where she insults her many times. Because of Devyani’s behavior, Yayati becomes upset with her and falls in love with good-natured Sharmishtha. Sharmishtha gets a son from him, but Devyani is unaware of all these happenings.

Meanwhile, Devyani also becomes the mother of a son. Once she learns about Sharmishtha and Yayati, she decides to kill Sharmishtha and his son. Yayati interferes and saves them, but has to send her far away to an unknown place. Yayati starts drinking heavily after this. After that, one night, Devyani asks Yayati not to touch her for life. Yayati becomes imbalanced and leaves her. He goes to another place and starts to drink heavily, as well as having relationships with other women. Every day, he wants a new woman. He is always so heavily drunk that he does not know which woman comes to him. In that flow, he has sex with his dead friend’s sister and fiancée also. His friend’s fiancée commits suicide after this, and his sister becomes insane and dies afterward. Yayati still continues to engage with more women.

Eighteen years passed in this way. Meanwhile, both of his sons grow up. Son of Devyani goes to suppress the mutiny by Dasyu but gets caught. Sharmishtha’s son interferes and saves his life.

After this, Devyani’s father curses Yayati, and he becomes an old man, but he says that if any of his sons accept his old age, he will become young again. Devyani’s son refuses, but Sharmishtha’s son accepts his old age. Thus, Yayati becomes young again. Kach interferes and wipes out the curse of Shukracharya. Now, Yayati understands the true meaning of life and decides to enter Vanprasthashram and leave for the jungle. Devyani’s nature also changes after this, and she and Sharmishtha leave for the jungle with Yayati. Sharmishtha’s son succeeds Yayati as king of Hastinapur.