Kashyapa - Epic Characters of Vedas & Upanishads - E-book - ePub

Sage Kashyapa was one of the saptharishis who had attained Brahmajnana. He was the creator of all the Devas by virtue of one of his wives being Adithi who was the mother of all Devas. Surya, Indra and Vamanamurthy were his sons. He co-operated with Brahma in creating the world, took charge of the governance of the planet and saved it from destructive forces. Whenever dharma was in danger , he used his power to protect and establish it.
Kashyapa was the son of Kaladevi and Marichi. DakshaBrahma got sixty daughters for the purpose of procreation and Kashyapa married thirteen of them. So, all living beings we find on earth are fathered by Kashyapa. Once, one of the sage's wives, Dithi, got jealous of Adithi and asked the sage to grant her motherhood. The sage was meditating and asked her to wait. She wouldn't and so he just said that she would bear two wicked sons but one of them would have a son who would be the Lord's devotee.
Vamanamurthy was born as Adithi and the sage's son in order to teach a lesson to the daithyas who had started ruling over the Devas. We also have the story of how Garuda and Aruna became Kashyapa's sons. Kashyapa was about to curse Khadru on knowing that she had tried to cheat Vinatha, Garuda's mother. The sage stopped Mother Earth from descending to the nether world. He was an expert in dharmashastra.
He got the opportunity to preach to Prahlada the nuances of righteous conduct. Kashyapa and Adithi were born as Kausalya and Dasharatha, then as Devaki and Vasudeva. During the Mahabharata war, Kashyapa was foremost among the sages to dissuade Drona from the thoughtless killing and violence. Kashyapa believed in the universal principle - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, and his motto was - Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavanthu.