The Story of King Yayati: A Tale of Desire, Redemption, and Renunciation in Shrimad Bhagavatam

Shrimad Bhagavatam tells the interesting perspective of King Yayati. His narrative is also mentioned in the Mahabharata's Adi Parva and the Matsya Purana. The life of King Yayati takes us on a trip of a man born into a wonderful family who is the ideal of youth, beauty, and courage; who falls into the never-ending trap of sense fulfillment and material pleasure and, in the end, emerges triumphant. King Yayati is the one who loses everything in his prime, regains it, and eventually gives up all to achieve a celestial dwelling.

या दुस्त्यजा दुर्मतिभिर्जीर्यतो या न जीर्यते ⁠। तां तृष्णां दुःखनिवहां शर्मकामो द्रुतं त्यजेत् ⁠।⁠।⁠
Yā dustyajā durmatibhir jīryato yā na jīryate tāṁ tṛṣṇāṁ duḥkhanihahāṁ śarmakāmo drutaṁ tyajet

The longing for the senses is the root of all sorrow. It requires more effort for the feeble-minded ones to give up sensory pleasures. The body deteriorates, but the desire stays youthful. So, anyone seeking self-satisfaction should abandon worldly aspirations as quickly as feasible. (Bhagavatam, 9.18-19) 

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction to King Yayati’s Story
2. King Yayati’s Marriages: Devyani and Sharmishtha
3. The Curse of Shukracharya and Yayati’s Fall
4. Yayati’s Quest for Youth and the Exchange with Puru
5. The Dangers of Sensory Desires: Lessons from Yayati’s Life
6. Yayati’s Redemption and Final Renunciation
7. The Meaning of King Yayati’s Story and its Relevance Today

Introduction to King Yayati’s Story

Yayati is the second son of the renowned king Nahush. He is crowned king after his elder brother Yati takes sanyas. Yayati marries Devyani, the daughter of demon master Shukracharya. Devyani had retained Sharmishtha, the daughter of demon king Vrishparva, as her maid servant. The account of how a king's daughter, Sharmishtha, became the maidservant of a brahmin's daughter, Devyani, is also intriguing. 

King Yayati’s Marriages: Devyani and Sharmishtha

Fateful Meeting Sharmishtha and Devyani were good friends. Once, two girls were swimming with their thousands of girlfriends. When the young girls spotted Lord Shiva and Parvati close to the lake, they immediately dressed, Sharmishtha accidentally wore Devyani's attire or Sharmishtha mistakenly donned Devyani's clothes. Devyani gets enraged and rebukes Sharmishtha with many harsh words. Sharmishtha, as a princess, couldn't take the scolding and counterattacked Devyani by throwing her into a well. When Sharmishtha had left the venue, King Yayati unexpectedly arrived and rescued Devyani. After coming home, Devyani tells her father, Shukracharya, about the incident, who is enraged by his daughter's insult and resolves to quit King Vrishparva's court. Despite being a demon king, Vrishparva respects and fears his guru's wrath. So, to soothe Shukracharya, he and Sharmishtha accept Devyani's demand that Sharmishtha will be Devyani's maid servant for life, following her everywhere that she goes.

Returning to the present, Devyani and King Yayati are married, and Sharmishtha accompanies them to their court. Yayati is a magnificent king, but he is not without sensory desires. He is a lusty man with a large number of consorts. Shukracharya made a commitment to the monarch not to invite Sharmishtha to his bed when marrying off his daughter to Yayati. However, Yayati was unable to uphold his word. When Sharmishtha discovers that her friend Devyani has given birth to the king's kid, she wants to be a mother as well. So she approached Yayati one evening and requested him to help her have a son. King Yayati reminded her of his commitment.

Sharmistha responded, "O king, it is not wrong to lie on the occasion of a joke, in regard to ladies desire to be enjoyed, or on the occasion of marriage, in the risk of sudden death and the loss of one's whole riches. Lying is acceptable in these five situations. After much back and forth, the king, weak in his senses, eventually gives up on the demon princess's wish. As a consequence, Sharmishtha had three boys with Yayati: Druhyu, Anu, and Puru. He had two sons with Devyani: Yadu and Turvasu.

The Curse of Shukracharya and Yayati’s Fall

Yayati and Shamishtha manage to keep their affair hidden for a while, but when Devyani finds out, she becomes enraged and flees to her father's house. Shukracharya curses Yayati with old age and infirmity after discovering his crime. What could be more agonizing for a lustful guy than to lose his freshness and energy before their natural time? Yayati is in considerable trouble, so he begs his father-in-law for forgiveness. He adds, "O son of Bhrigu, I have not yet been satisfied with youth or Devyani." Therefore, O Merciful, be gracious to me so that decrepitude may not touch me."
Finally, Shukracharya shows mercy and grants him the benediction to exchange his old age and incapacity for one of his sons. Shukracharya further claims that the son who exchanges Yayati's old age for his youth will be the throne's heir. He will live a long life, become well-known, and have a large family. 

Yayati’s Quest for Youth and the Exchange with Puru

Yayati, overwhelmed with decrepitude, returns to his kingdom and summons all of his sons, but none of them want to give up their youth for their father. Finally, his youngest son, Puru, agrees, and Yayati regains his youth. Yayati, overjoyed at regaining his youth, indulges once again in his pleasures and desires.

The Dangers of Sensory Desires: Lessons from Yayati’s Life

He rules the world as Indra, the king of the gods, does, with his senses fully engaged in every material pleasure. His senses are unimpaired, and he can experience unmatched and limitless material delight without violating religious principles. He is overjoyed to be able to experience some of the world's most precious artifacts. His main concern is that all of this will cease one day. 

Yayati’s Redemption and Final Renunciation

Yayati is always aware that after a thousand years, he will have to give up everything. Even after a thousand years of indulging in many forms of pleasure, he remains dissatisfied. On the one hand, he discovered his passion burning bright; nonetheless, he is also conscious of the fleeting nature of material pleasures. When Yayati realizes his thousand years of youth are coming to an end, he calls upon Puru and, in a final act of humility, returns his youth to his son. Soon after placing Puru on the throne, the monarch retreated into the woods, accompanied by brahmanas and ascetics. 

The Meaning of King Yayati’s Story and its Relevance Today

After living in the wilderness with ascetics, maintaining numerous stringent vows and eating fruits and roots, Yayati eventually ascends to heaven, where he dwells in joy for a while before being cast down by Indra.
Shrimad Bhagavat compares Yayati's quick renunciation to a bird leaving and soaring away from its nest as soon as its wings fully develop. King Yayati recounts the meaning of the story to Devyani, his adored wife. He says:

न जातु कामः कामानामुपभोगेन शाम्यति⁠। हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्धते ⁠।⁠।⁠

Na jatu kamah kamānām upabhogeṇa śāmyati.Haviṣā kṛṣṇa-vartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate.
King Yayati himself reflects on the nature of desire, explaining that material pleasures can never extinguish the flame of lust, but only fuel it further. (Mahabharat, Adi Parva 1.850.12)
One must understand that worldly pleasures, whether on Earth or in the heavens, are fleeting and ultimately illusory.
Given this awareness, one should neither contemplate nor crave such pleasures. One should constantly have the solid conviction that even thought will expose one to the eternal cycle of life and birth. The authentic atma-gyani, or soul knower, understands this knowledge.