Anasuya
Encyclopedia
Anusuya

Anusuya (IAST
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is a transliteration scheme that allows a lossless romanization of Indic scripts as employed by the Sanskrit language.-Popularity:...

: Anasūyā, sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

:अनसूया
Sati Anasuya, also referred as अनुसूया or Sati Anusuya, in Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...

, was wife of the sage Atri
Atri
This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

 and mother of Dattatreya
Dattatreya
Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...

  who is considered by some Hindus (in western India) to be an incarnation of the Divine Trinity Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 and Siva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

.
Anasuya (अनसूया), literally meaning free from envy and jealousy, was the wife of an ancient India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n rishi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...

 (sage) named Atri
Atri
This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

. In the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

, she appears living with her husband in a small hermitage
Hermitage (religious retreat)
Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...

 in the southern periphery of the forest of Chitrakuta
Chitrakuta
Chitrakuta is a town and a nagar panchayat in Satna district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India....

. She was very pious, and always practiced austerities and devotion. This made her attain miraculous powers. When Sita
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...

 and her husband Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

 visited her during their exile, Anasuya was very attentive to them, and gave Sita an ointment which was to keep her beautiful for ever. She was mother of the irascible sages Durvasa
Durvasa
In Hindu mythology, Durvasa , or Durvasas, was an ancient sage, the son of Atri and Anasuya. He is supposed to be an incarnation of Shiva. He is known for his short temper. Maledictions or curses he gave in his rage ruined many lives. Hence, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence ...

, Dattatreya
Dattatreya
Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...

 and Chandra
Chandra
In Hinduism, Chandra is a lunar deity and a Graha. Chandra is also identified with the Vedic Lunar deity Soma . The Soma name refers particularly to the juice of sap in the plants and thus makes the Moon the lord of plants and vegetation. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and...

.

Anasuya was also a friend of Shakuntala
Shakuntala
In Hindu mythology Shakuntala is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the Mahabharata and dramatized by Kalidasa in his play Abhijñānaśākuntalam .-Etymology:Rishi Kanva found her in forest as a baby surrounded by Shakunta birds...

. The name is also erroneously spelled Anusuya.

She was the daughter of Sage Kardama and his wife Devahuti. Sage Kapila was her brother and teacher.

Etymology

Anasuya the word is made up of two parts: An and Asuya. An is a negative prefix and Asuya means jealousy. The one who is not jealous is Anasuya.

Trinity test of Anasuya

Once trinity decided to test the chastity of Anasuya
Anasuya
Anusuya Anusuya Anusuya (IAST: Anasūyā, sanskrit:अनसूया Sati Anasuya, also referred as अनुसूया or Sati Anusuya, in Hindu mythology, was wife of the sage Atri and mother of Dattatreya who is considered by some Hindus (in western India) to be an incarnation of the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and...

. They came to Anasuyaa's house as Brahmins and request for food with the condition that she has to serve it nude. Anasuyaa without any hesitation agreed to that. In turn she used her pativrita shakti to convert the brahmins into child and offered them food without any dress. Trinity could revert back to their original form only after she did herself on the request of gods. Trinity blessed them with three sons being sons: Dattatreya
Dattatreya
Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...

, Chandraatri and Durvasa
Durvasa
In Hindu mythology, Durvasa , or Durvasas, was an ancient sage, the son of Atri and Anasuya. He is supposed to be an incarnation of Shiva. He is known for his short temper. Maledictions or curses he gave in his rage ruined many lives. Hence, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence ...

.

  • Atri made a great tapascharya on the riksha kulaparvat (kula mountain) because of which the whole world started burning. Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha were impressed with him and asked him what he wants. For which Atri asked them to be his children (or have children like them). So Atri and Anusuya had 3 sons namely, Soma
    Soma
    Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...

     or Chandra
    Chandra
    In Hinduism, Chandra is a lunar deity and a Graha. Chandra is also identified with the Vedic Lunar deity Soma . The Soma name refers particularly to the juice of sap in the plants and thus makes the Moon the lord of plants and vegetation. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and...

     (the Moon) from Brahma
    Brahma
    Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

    , Dattatreya
    Dattatreya
    Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...

     from Vishnu
    Vishnu
    Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

     and sage Durvasa
    Durvasa
    In Hindu mythology, Durvasa , or Durvasas, was an ancient sage, the son of Atri and Anasuya. He is supposed to be an incarnation of Shiva. He is known for his short temper. Maledictions or curses he gave in his rage ruined many lives. Hence, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence ...

     from Shiva
    Shiva
    Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

    .

  • In Brahma Purana
    Brahma Purana
    The Brahma Purana is one of the major eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. The extant text comprises 246 chapters. It is divided into two parts, namely the Purvabhaga and the Uttarabhaga . The first part narrates the story behind the creation of the cosmos, details the life and...

    , Atri asked for the 3 sons and one daughter. So he had Chandra, Dattatreya, Durvas as sons and Shubhatreyi as daughter from Anusuya.

  • A brahmin named Kaushik was staying in a town called Pratishthaan. He used to go to a whore in spite of being a Brahmin and having a devoted wife. Later he suffred from Leprosy
    Leprosy
    Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...

     and was thrown out by the whore. Then he came back to his wife who accepted him still. However, he still did not care for the wife, and was thinking about the whore all the time. One day he asked his wife to take him to that whore. In that town, by mistake the sage Mandavya
    Mandavya
    Mandavya was a sage, who according to Hinduism, was wrongly punished by the king by being impaled. This occurred as the chief of a band of robbers had hidden their stolen goods in a corner of his hermitage when he was in deep contemplation, and he was wrongly assumed to have stolen the goods. Lord...

     had been spiked instead of the real thief and he was lying on the spike in the forest. While walking through the deep forest in the night, Kaushik happened to hit his leg by mistake to Mandavya sage who cursed him to death before the sunrise. To stop the curse, Kaushik's wife with her powers stopped the Sunrise which created havoc. Then gods went to Brahma
    Brahma
    Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

     who in turn went to Anusuya and asked her to convince Kaushik's wife to allow the sunrise. She convinced Kaushik's wife and brought back Kaushik to life after the sunrise. Gods were very happy with Anusuya and she had the trio born to her.

  • Rahu
    Rahu
    In Hindu mythology, Rahu is a cut-off head of an asura, that swallows the sun or the moon causing eclipses. He is depicted in art as a serpent with no body riding a chariot drawn by eight black horses. Rahu is one of the navagrahas in Vedic astrology...

     had masked the Sun
    Sun
    The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

     and whole Earth was in the dark. Then Atri got the Sun out of Rahu
    Rahu
    In Hindu mythology, Rahu is a cut-off head of an asura, that swallows the sun or the moon causing eclipses. He is depicted in art as a serpent with no body riding a chariot drawn by eight black horses. Rahu is one of the navagrahas in Vedic astrology...

    's hands and lighted the Earth. The gods were happy and then Shiva and Vishnu were born as Durvas and Dattatreya to Atri-Anusuya.

  • Sage Narada
    Narada
    Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...

     praised Anusuya very much making the wives of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva jealous of Anusuya. They requested their husbands to go and break her "pativrata" vrata (being loyal to husband all the time). They went to Anusuya as guests when Atri
    Atri
    This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

     was not there at home and asked her to serve them food (lunch) without wearing clothes. She agreed and remembering her husband put the water on their converting them to 3 babies. Here the 3 goddesses were waiting for their husbands to come back and eventually arrived at the scene to find that their husbands have been converted to babies. They repented and by the request of Anusuya the three Gods decided to be born as her 3 sons.

Sati Anusuya ashrama

Sati Anusuya ashrama is in Chitrakuta
Chitrakuta
Chitrakuta is a town and a nagar panchayat in Satna district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India....

, located further upstreams the Mandakini River
Mandakini River
Mandakini is a tributary of the Alaknanda River. Mandakini originates from the Charabari Glacier near Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, India. Mandakini is fed by Vasukiganga River at Sonprayag. Mandakini joins Alaknanda at Rudraprayag...

, 16 km from the town, set amidst thick forests that round to the melody of birdsong all day. It was here that sage Atri
Atri
This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

, his wife Anusuya and their three sons ( who were the three incarnations of Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 and Mahesh), lived and are said to have meditated.

Valmiki
Valmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...

 describes in the epic Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

that at one time there was no rain in Chitrakuta for ten years. There was a severe famine and nothing was left to eat or drink for animals and birds. Sati Anusuya performed hard and intensive austerities and got the river Mandakini down on earth. This led to the greenery and forests to grow which removed the sufferings of all sages and the animals.

Sati Anusuya ashrama at present is a very peaceful place where various streams from the hills converge and form the Mandakini River. It is said that Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

 along with Sita
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...

 had visited this place to meet Maharishi Atri
Atri
This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

 and Sati Anusuya. It is here Sati Anusuya explained to Sita the grandeur and importance of satitva. The dense forests of Dandaka
Dandaka
Dandaka was the name of aranya or forest, lying between the Godavari and Narmada. It was of vast extent, and some passages of the Ramayana represent it as beginning immediately south of the Yamuna...

 start from this place. It was ruled by Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...

. Ravana had appointed strong rakshasa
Rakshasa
A Rakshasa or alternatively rakshas, is a race of mythological humanoid beings or unrighteous spirit in Hindu and Buddhist religion...

s like Khara
Khara
Khara can refer to* Khara, a character in the ancient Sanskrit epic the Ramayana* Khara-Khoto, the ruins of a medivial city in western Mongolia* Khara, Punjab - town in Punjab, India.* Khara, Nepal* Khara, Punjab - town in Punjab, Pakistan....

 and Viradha
Viradha
Virādha is minor character from the Aranya Kanda of the Ramayana. He is rakshasa living in Dandaka forest who briefly kidnaps Sita in an episode that has been described as "strongly [prefiguring Sita's] later abduction by Ravana, the central event of the book and the pivotal event of the epic." ...

 as its rulers. The place was infected by the terror of rakshasas.

Popular culture

The story of Anasuya is made into films in different languages in India.
The Telugu language film is made entitled Sati Anasuya
Sati Anasuya
Sati Anasuya story is made into many Indian films in different languages. It is made into Telugu language in 1936, 1957 and 1971.-Cast:* C. Krishnaveni* Prakash Rao* Suryanarayana* Narayanrao* P. Sundaramma* Raavu Balasaraswathi* C. S. R...

in 1957 and 1971. The 1957 film was directed by Kadaru Nagabhushanam
Kadaru Nagabhushanam
Kadaru Nagabhushanam or K. B. Nagabhushanam was a Telugu and Tamil film director and producer in the 1940s to 1960s. He was the husband of Pasupuleti Kannamba. They established Rajarajeshwari Films and produced many mythological films starring Kannamba in the lead role including Harischandra...

. and starring Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi is a veteran Telugu actress and producer. She is well known for her mythological role as Sita in Lava Kusha and roles in movies like Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali.- Biography :...

 and Gummadi Venkateswara Rao
Gummadi Venkateswara Rao
Gummadi Venkateswara Rao popularly known as Gummadi was a popular Telugu film character actor. Though he began to act in films much later than famous artistes like N.T.Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao he had through the course of his career acquired a niche for himself vis a vis the character...

. The 1971 film was directed by B. A. Subba Rao
B. A. Subba Rao
Bugata Venkata Subba Rao better known as B. A. Subba Rao is a Telugu film producer and director. He is recipient of Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his lifetime contribution of Telugu cinema....

. Jamuna Ramanarao
Jamuna Ramanarao
Jamuna is a veteran Telugu actress, a director and a politician.-Early life and background:Jamuna was born in Nidamaru, Guntur to Nippani Srinivas Rao, a Madhwa Brahmin business man, and Kausalya Devi, an Arya Vysya. She grew up in Duggirala, Guntur District in Andhra Pradesh state,...

 played the role of Anasuya, Sharada
Sharada (actress)
Sharada is a three time national award winning South Indian actress and Indian Parliament member. She originally hails from Andhra Pradesh. She has achieved success through Malayalam movies. Initially she did many supporting roles in Telugu films and later on moved to Malayalam film industry and...

 as Sumati and Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao
Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao
Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao, better known as Kanta Rao , was an Indian film actor and film producer from Andhra Pradesh, India. He acted in more than 400 Telugu mythological, social and folklore movies. He also acted in a few Hindi, Kannada and Tamil movies. He produced about five films under the...

as Atri Maharshi. Music score provided by P. Adinarayana Rao.
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