The gods in Indian myth were not always immortal. This is a trait they shared with the gods of many mythologies, but the gods of India seemed to have been a singularly frail species. They did not attain to immortality and eternal youth until the churning of the Cosmic Ocean yielded them Amritha, the Nectar of Immortality. Amritha is the Indian version of Ichor, the Greek Myth fluid that flows in the veins of the gods and grants them their youth, strength and eternal life. The story of how the gods attained Amritha is dealt in the article Coorma Avatar. In the meantime however, they came up with an ingenious solution that is, in so far as my knowledge goes, quite unique to myth structures. The gods still continued to die but they learnt the trick of reviving the dead! This was through the knowledge of Sanjeevani, which is both a magical plant that does the trick, as well as a system of ritual and mantras that does the same. This story, from the Mahabharatha, tells of that achievement.

It is very instructive that in both the cases of the Sanjeevani and the Amritha, the gods had to resort to trickery and fraud to wrest the precious gift away from the demons who first came into possession of it. It is almost as if the art of cheating death is something the virtuous have to assume with reluctance, only the grossly material philosophies of the demons could posit eternal life as a value. In the Vedic outlook, Death is a necessary and inevitable consequence of having lived. It was not feared because life was full and joyously passionate, and death was the door to divine status. For the gods were humans of exceptional virtue to begin with. Once these paragons died, they entered heaven and assumed divine duties. Yama, Lord of Death, for instance, was the first man to die in all creation. Thus each godly position, God of Fire, Water, Sky, Justice etc, was analogous to ranks in the organizational hierarchy - the individual filling up the post might go, but he would be swiftly replaced and the post remained. Thus the position of even Indra, leader of the gods, CEO in modern terms, was taken over in series as and when the position fell vacant. Such vacancies occurred regularly as the gods were constantly at war with their wicked cousins the demons or Asuras, and their losses in these battles were always great.

The Asuras, however, were none the worse for the inevitable drubbing they received, as they had a very major trump up their sleeve. This was the knowledge of Sanjeevani possessed by their guru, Shukracharya or Shukra, as he was also known. After each battle, he brought back the dead Asuras to life. The gods used to win because they were far mightier, but a peculiar situation was arising wherein they would soon be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Asuras, while their own numbers continued to dwindle. Not enough good and great men were dying on earth to replace the gods being lost! In Mythic Combat, the Cosmic Balance between good and evil is restored rather than any naïve, final triumph of the good. That balance was going to be seriously disturbed with a few more battles. The Asuras were thus assured of ultimate victory - all they had to do was wait. In such desperate straits the gods decided to trick the Asura guru into sharing his knowledge.

It is worth remarking here that they never considered killing him outright. He was one of the great and learned beings of the universe and his life was sacred. He was also a Brahmin, so they sent Kaccha, son of their guru Brihaspati, to learn under the Asura mentor. In Ancient India to have the son of a famous guru as your pupil was a matter of great credit and a subtle form of flattery. Shukra was extremely pleased at what he thought was Brihaspati's suave acknowledgement of his greatness in sending his own son to learn under him. However, while Shukra was generous in teaching him and he was rapidly the star pupil, he never got a whiff of the knowledge of Sanjeevani. The other person who was greatly pleased was Devyani, daughter of Shukra and a young woman of great accomplishments. The Asura culture, with its frankly hedonistic outlook was not what she liked. Kaccha, like all the gods, was polished, refined and a master of all the fine arts. Long and diligent hours were spent in aesthetic conversation, and Devyani soon learnt why ancient India considered lovemaking to be one of the fine arts too. Best of all, Kaccha was so handsome, a refreshing contrast to the Asuras who were brave but not comely by any means. She lived in a carefully contrived atmosphere of giddy romance, as Kaccha had calculated that she would be a good ally to have on his side.

Nor was he wrong in that assessment. The Asuras had shared the initial excitement at their having snared such a famous pupil, reflecting much to their glory. Soon their naturally suspicious natures kicked in and they began to brood about this godling in their midst. Was he a spy or a saboteur? He had complete freedom of movement and access to all their secrets, as he was the star pupil of Shukra. They had no real proof, as Kaccha was too clever and careful to be caught out, but they decided to kill him anyway. One day they pushed him off a mountaintop. Devyani's distress moved an initially reluctant Shukra to bring Kaccha back to life. He very obviously shared some of his people's ambivalence about the young man! The demons, who had tenacity of purpose if nothing else, drowned Kaccha in the sea next. Again Shukra revived him. Realizing they were getting nowhere with this line of attack, the Asuras assaulted and killed Kaccha, cremated him and mixed his ashes in a bowl of wine which they then offered to Shukra. The unsuspecting guru drank, and they thought that they had finally got rid of this pest.

Devyani however, would not let the matter rest, and she made a tremendous din about the whole issue. To get some peace Shukra agreed to revive the dead god. This time however, his mantras had an unexpected consequence - Kaccha came alive within his stomach. At that moment, Shukra realized that Kaccha had tricked him and he tried to persuade Devyani that it was best the young man died inside him. He made a counter offer that Kaccha could emerge from within him, but that would mean his own death. The poor man hoped that thus his daughter would be satisfied and he did not have to reveal his peoples' secret. She insisted that she wanted both her father and her lover alive - now. Left with no option, Shukra taught Kaccha the secret of Sanjeevani so that, as soon as he emerged, he could revive the guru he had killed. Kaccha was suitably grateful. Cunningly, he did not bolt and run off immediately. He continued his education with Shukra, learnt all that the very wise and learned guru had to teach, and then decided to leave for the heavens. The chastened guru issued a decree that henceforth it was illegal and a mortal sin for a Brahmin to drink wine, period. It is probably the only instance in all mythology wherein a moral rule is laid down by the bad guys and adopted by the entire world.

When it was time for Kaccha to leave, Devyani expected him to ask for her hand. To her alarm she saw no signs of his so doing, and she urgently confronted him with her desire to be married. The poor girl was devastated when Kaccha took refuge behind the specious argument that since he had been reborn from her father's stomach, she was as a sister to him and it would be awfully bad form to marry your sister! In one revealing instant she understood that she had been a pleasant and useful dalliance, but he had done what he had done, only for the sake of his mission. That, by the way, is regarded as extremely correct behavior in India, the social imperative allowing for actions that are not countenanced if performed for personal gain. From Kaccha's point of view he had a job to do using whatever it takes. He lost his life three times over it! To forsake his mission now and settle down with a beautiful girl would be a negation of all that he ever stood for, it would be an ugly perversion of his faith and values. In a larger scale, where his role was vital in helping the gods to restore Cosmic Balance by Mythic Combat, Devyani's offer was but a temptation from his vocation. He also saw that while he may have been a bit of a cad with Devyani, she was being too clever by half herself. If he married her and settled down with the Asuras, the gods would never learn the secret their existence depended upon. She was trying to win back by love what her father had lost. Kaccha was no fool and he let her down with gentle remonstrance. That this situation is exactly the scenario posited by the Tarot Major Arcana Card No 6, The Lovers, is a surprise only to those who do not understand the universality of mythic structures.

Devyani was not used to being thwarted and she cursed Kaccha that the knowledge he was forsaking her for, would be of no use to him. It would inevitably fail when he tried to use it. Kaccha was still a god however, and this temerity provoked him to a furious retaliation. He snapped back that he could teach others the use of Sanjeevani even if he could not personally use it and for cursing him, she, Devyani, would never marry a Brahmin. This was a terrible fate for a Brahmin girl and a really nasty curse. However, the gods are not to be provoked lightly, as any system of mythology can tell you. Devyani does, indeed, later fall in love with a king named Yayati, but he too breaks her heart. We shall deal with that story sometime in our epics section. Kaccha goes back to an anxious bunch of gods with his new knowledge and they are now safe from depletion. The demons have no advantage anymore, and the process of Cosmic Balance by Mythic Combat continues as it was designed to do. When they get hold of the Amritha later they abandon the practice of Sanjeevani, as it is no longer required. The gods truly become immortal then, while the Asuras continue to die. That is another story.