View source for Devapi

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox character
| image = 
| alt = Decapitated
| caption = King Marutta meets Devapi
| family = [[Pratipa]] (father)

Shantanu (brother)
| info-hdr = Information
}}
'''Devapi''' ({{langx|sa|देवापि}}, {{IAST|Devāpi}}, lit. ''friend of Gods'') or '''Devāpi Arṣṭiṣeṇa''', is an immortal sage. According to the [[Nirukta]] (ii.10), the ''[[Brihaddevata]]'', the [[Mahabharata]], and the [[Puranas]], he was a [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]] prince and the eldest son of King Pratipa of [[Hastinapura]]. He was a noble and well-liked prince but he was not allowed to succeed Pratipa, because he was affected with [[leprosy]] and the council of Brahmanas and elderly citizens were opposed to this proposal. As a result of this, his younger brother [[Shantanu]] succeeded Pratipa as the king of Hastinapura.<ref name="m1">Misra, V.S. (2007). ''Ancient Indian Dynasties'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, {{ISBN|81-7276-413-8}}, pp. 83–4</ref> Later Devapi retired to the forest for penance. According to the [[Matsya Purana]] and the [[Bhagavata Purana]], he along with the sage Maru will remain alive till the end of the present [[Kali Yuga]] at a place called Kalapagrama and will revive the [[Puru (Vedic tribe)|Paurava]] dynasty in the next [[Satya Yuga]].<ref name="p1">Pargiter, F.E. (1972). ''Ancient Indian Historical Tradition''. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp.165, 165ff</ref>

==Drought in Kuru realm==
According to the ''Brihaddevata'' of [[Shaunaka]], when Devapi abdicated the throne in favour of Shantanu and left for the forest, the realm of Kuru suffered from severe drought for twelve years, as [[Parjanya]] did not rain. Finally, Shantanu along with his subjects went to the forest and offered him the Kuru throne, which he declined. Instead, he agreed to become Shantanu's ''[[purohita]]'' (priest) and conduct a ''[[yajna]]'' (sacrifice) for him to produce rain.<ref>''Brihaddevata'', vii,155-7, viii.1-9</ref> A later version of this narrative is found in the [[Vishnu Purana]] (IV.20) According to the Vishnu Purana, the reason for drought, as explained to Shantanu by his [[brahmin]] ministers, was the displeasure of the gods because of Shantanu's ascending the throne in place of his elder brother, a violation of the law of primogeniture. When a wily minister of Shantanu heard this, he dispatched a number of heretics to the forest, who perverted the simple-minded prince Devapi in anti-Vedic doctrines. When the Brahmins sent by Shantanu came to the forest to offer him the throne, he advanced arguments contrary to the precepts of the Vedas. As a result, Brahmins declared him degraded and unfit to rule, whereupon there was rain.<ref>Thapar, Romila (1978, reprint 1996). ''Ancient Indian Social History Some Interpretations'', New Delhi: Orient Longman, {{ISBN|81-250-0808-X}}, pp. 271–2</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Horace Hayman|title=The Vishnu Purana|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC|orig-date=1840|year=2009|volume=2|pages=138–9|isbn=978-0-559-05467-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kCVg44-xRAC&q=Devapi+vishnu+Purana&pg=PA138}}</ref>

==In Rigveda==
In [[Rigveda]], Devapi is always mentioned as Devāpi Arṣṭiṣeṇa.The [[Rigveda]] (X.98) mentions that Devapi conducted [[yajna]] for rain in [[Shantanu]]'s kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01002.htm|title=Rigveda, Book 10:Hymn 98|publisher=sacred texts}}</ref> Modern scholars are not unanimous about the true meaning of ''Arṣṭiṣeṇa''. Modern scholars, which include S.N. Pradhan and V.S. Misra believe, that, Devapi after becoming a [[brahmana]], entered Ṛṣṭiṣeṇa [[gotra]].<ref name="m1"/>

==Notes==
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[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Rishis]]