Further reading: Kenneth E. Bryant, Poems to the
Child-God: Structures and Strategies in the Poetry of
Surdas (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978);
Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen, Classi-
cal Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978); E.
Washburn Hopkins, Epic Mythology (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1986).
Devanagari
Devanagari (“of the city of the gods”) is the script
that is used for Hindi, Sanskrit, and Marathi. It
developed out of the earlier Brahmi script toward
the end of the last millennium B.C.E. It has been
used regularly for Sanskrit ever since. When Hindi
was recognized and developed as a separate writ-
ten language in the 19th century, Devanagari was
the script chosen for it.
As with most other scripts that derive from
Brahmi, Devanagari uses a system of abbreviated
vowel markings to show vowels after conso-
nants, when the vowels are not the first letter of
the word. Full vowel forms are made beginning
a word. There are 48 to 51 letters in the Deva-
nagari alphabet depending on whether certain
unusual vowels are included and whether one
includes conjunct consonants at the end. Typi-
cally the Devanagari alphabet begins with a and
ends with h.
Further reading: K. C. Aryan, Rekha, a Book on Art and
Anatomy of Indian Languages and Symbols (Delhi: Rekha
Prakashan, 1952); India, Central Hindi Directorate,
Devanagari through the Ages (New Delhi: Central Hindi
Directorate, 1967); P. Visalakshy, Nandinagari Script
(Thiruvanathapuram: Dravidian Linguistics Associa-
tion, 2003).
Devayani and Yayati
Devayani and Yayati are the romantic protago-
nists in an old and popular myth, which also con-
siders them to be ancestors of KRISHNA. Devayani,
daughter of the famous rishi Ushanas Kavya,
was swimming in a pond with Sharmishtha, the
daughter of the king of the asuras (antigods or
demons) and a student of Ushanas Kavya. In
those days such interchange took place between
gods and asuras. When Lord Shiva happened by
they rushed to get their clothes. Sharmishtha
took Devayani’s clothes by mistake. Devayani
upbraided Sharmishtha severely, and the latter in
anger threw her friend into a well and took her
clothes.
King Yayati, who was hunting, happened by
and rescued Devayani. When he touched her
hand, she announced that she would never touch
another man’s hand. Kavya gave his daughter
to the king; following Devayani’s wish he also
handed over Sharmishtha as her slave, admonish-
ing the king never to have carnal relations with
the daughter of the asuras.
Devayani soon bore the king glorious sons,
one of them Yadu, an ancestor of Krishna him-
self. Sharmishtha became jealous and managed to
seduce the king to break his promise to Kavya.
When Devayani heard this she went home
to her father. The king followed, chastised, and
sought her return. When he reached her home,
her father, Kavya, cursed the king with immediate
old age as an antidote to his uncontrolled lust.
The king begged a way out of the curse and was
allowed to transfer the curse to someone else. He
convinced his youngest son to take the curse of
old age, and the son became a ruler while for a
thousand years Yayati enjoyed the pleasures of
love with Devayani. Finally, tiring of the life of the
senses, the king took back his old age from the
son and renounced the world.Further reading: C. R. Devadhar, ed. and trans., Yayati-
carita: A Drama in Seven Acts (Poona: Bhandarkar Ori-
ental Research Institute, 1965); Cornelia Dimmitt and J.
A. B. van Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader
in the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); E. Washburn Hopkins, Epic Mythology
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986).Devayani and Yayati 129 J