A for Ashta Vasus - Mahabharata Mashup

Namaste, 

And we start the challenge with the first alphabet. 

In Mahabharata, Ashta Vasus (eight Vasus) are thesons of Brahma Prajapati. They are celestial deities associated with theelements. The Vasus belong to Indra’s Heaven and work for Maha Vishnu. They areamong the thirty-three gods listed in Hinduism (contrary to the popular myth,we don’t have 33 crores of gods). 

A Vasu is someone who gives. As rulers of elementsand natural forces, they nourish and punish. Different texts usedifferent names for the Vasus, but their core elements remain the same. 

The Ashta Vasus are: 

Earth – Prithvi / Dhara 

Fire – Agni / Anala / Pavaka 

Wind/ Air – Vayu / Anila 

Water – Varuna / Aapa / Aha 

Sky/ Ether – Dyaus / Prabhasa

Sun – Aditya / Pratyusha 

Moon – Chandra / Soma 

Stars – Nakstrani / Dhruva 

One day, the Vasus and their wives visited MountMeru. They saw the wish-fulfilling cow belonging to Maharshi Vasishta and stoleher. But before they could leave, they got caught. The rishi cursed them to beborn as humans for their crime. However, the Vasus pleaded mercy. He amendedthe curse for seven of them and said they could return to their original selfafter a year. However, the one who committed the crime, Dyaus, aka Prabhasa,would have to stay on the earth for a long time. 

The Vasuses requested River Goddess Ganga to givebirth to them on the earth and wished to be born as the sons of King Pratipa’sson. That was how Shantanu (Pratipa’s son) saw and fell in love with Ganga andmarried her. As promised, she gave birth to the seven Vasus year after year anddrowned them in the river soon afterward. The eighth son was Devvrata orGangadatta. He grew up to become Bhishma, the key member of the Kurudynasty. 

Note:  Thisstory is found in the  AdiParva  of Mahabharata. 

On the tenth day of the Kurukshetra War, Bhishmafell to Arjuna’s arrows and lay on the bed of arrows on the battlefield. TheVasus visited him in celestial form to take him back home. Finally, almost twomonths later, when the Uttarayan begins, Bhishma left the mortal world tobecome a Vasu. 

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PS: If you are wondering, the 33 gods are -12 Adityas 11 Rudras 8 Vasus 2 Ashvins 
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The AI images are made on Bing.