1. Jaratkaru is the husband of the serpent-goddess Manasa and the father of their son, Astika.
16 Facts About Jaratkaru
1. 2.
Jaratkaru appears as a secondary character in the tales of Manasa and Astika.
3.
Jaratkaru is described as a great learned sage who practises severe asceticism.
4.
Jaratkaru finally forsakes Manasa when she wakes him up from his deep slumber, and he feels insulted.
5.
The Hindu epic Mahabharata narrates that Jaratkaru was born in the lineage of the Yayavara Brahmanas and was the only heir of the clan.
6.
Jaratkaru appears in the tales of Astika and Manasa in the Hindu scriptures Mahabharata, the Devi Bhagavata Purana, and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana.
7.
Jaratkaru is a character in folk tales related to the worship of his wife, the snake goddess.
8.
Jaratkaru has even renounced food and sleep, and survives only on air.
9.
Jaratkaru had cursed the snakes to be burnt at the yajna of Janamejaya.
10.
Jaratkaru warns his new wife that he would abandon her and his home if she ever displeases him, so she serves her eccentric husband dutifully.
11.
The marriage is never consummated as Jaratkaru even refuses to touch Manasa, and sleeps separately under a fig tree.
12.
The Mahabharata continues in its longer telling: Soon after Jaratkaru impregnates his wife, the fatigued sage sleeps upon his wife's lap.
13.
Jaratkaru says that the sun would not dare to set before he performs his rituals.
14.
Jaratkaru forsakes her, though the "innocent" wife begs his pardon and justifies her decision.
15.
The Sun steps in and placates the sage, praising him as a powerful sage, but Jaratkaru has made up his mind to abandon his wife.
16.
The first telling in the Mahabharata says that after a long life, Jaratkaru dies and attains heaven.