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In the Hindu texts, Ambarisha is a mythological Ikshvaku (Suryavanshi) king, and the son of Mandhata. He is believed to have conquered the whole world in a week. He lived during the Treta Yuga.

    According to the Bhagavata Purana, the king was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, and he adhered firmly to the truth. On being pleased with his devotion, Lord Vishnu gave his Sudarshana Chakra to Ambarisha, who worshipped the deity’s weapon with great devotion. Once, during the Vaikuntha Ekadashi, Ambarisha performed the Dvadashi Vrata at Vrindavana, which required that the king start a fast on Ekadashi and break it at the start of Dvadasi (the twelfth day), and then feed all his people. As the moment of breaking the fast was drawing near, the mighty sage Durvasa appeared out of nowhere. He was received with full honours by King Ambarisha. Durvasa Muni agreed to the king’s request to be his honoured guest and have a meal with him, but asked the king to wait until he finished his bath in the Yamuna River and returned. As the auspicious moment approached when the king had to break his fast to fulfil the vow of the vrata, Durvasa did not turn up. On the advice of his priests, the king broke his fast by consuming a little water and waited for the arrival of sage Durvasa to offer him food. Durvasa, who was well known for his short temper, could ascertain by his mystic power that King Ambarisha had violated the respect due to a guest by breaking his fast before the guest had taken his meal, and in his rage he created an asura to kill Ambarisha, out of a strand of his hair. But because Ambarisha was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, the Sudarshana Chakra intervened to destroy the asura, and further started chasing Durvasa himself. Sage Durvasa became extremely frightened, and he ran for his life.

    The Sudarshan Chakra was soon inches away from Durvasa Muni’s back, as it chased him like a blazing forest fire. On the run and desperate to protect himself, Durvasa Muni went everywhere: through the sky, over the earth’s surface, into caves and under the ocean. He ran through all three planets, but could not escape the Lord’s weapon. Sudarshan Chakra followed him nonstop.

    Sage Durvasa felt the unbearable heat. Finally, he went to Satya-loka and asked Brahma for protection, saying, “O my Lord, kindly protect me.” Brahma said, “I cannot help you. I am under the control of Lord Narayana, the master of the Sudarshan Chakra.” Having been told that Brahma couldn’t protect him. Durvasa Muni went to Lord Shiva in Kailash and asked for his protection.

    “You should go to the Supreme Lord Narayana. This Sudarshan Chakra is unbearable even for me,” said Shiva. Durvasa Muni then proceeded to Vaikuntha, the celestial abode of Lord Vishnu. There, he fell at Lord Narayana’s lotus feet and begged for protection.

    “Oh, Durvasa, you should know that I am completely under the control of my devotees. So you should go to Maharaja Ambarisha. Only he can protect you from this Sudarshan Chakra.” Immediately upon being advised so by Lord Vishnu, Durvasa Muni realised his mistake and rushed back to Maharaja Ambarisha.

    The sage begged the devoted king Ambarisha for forgiveness. The king then politely requested the Sudarshan Chakra not to harm the sage Durvasa. At the king’s request, the Sudarshan Chakra became peaceful and returned to Lord Narayana.

    Maharaja Ambarisha then offered delicious prasad to the sage. The sage said, “My dear King, please have your meal first. In the beginning, I thought you were an ordinary person, but now I understand that you are the most exalted devotee of the Lord.”

Written by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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