Tale of Bhishma's birth / Incarnations of Kali and Dwapar demons

Once the eight Vasus (Ashtavasus) visited Vashishta's ashram accompanied by their wives. One of them, Prabhasa's wife got extremely fond of the Kamadhenu cow. (Kamadhenu, also known as Surabhi, is the mother of all cows. She is miraculous and provides her owner whatever he desires for.) So the wife asked Prabhasa to steal the cow and he then stole the cow with an assistance provided by the rest of seven vasus. Hence they were all cursed by Vashishta to be born as mortals. The Vasus appealed for mercy and Vashishta moderated the curse of the first seven Vasus (Who had assisted Prabhasa) that they would be liberated from their mortal birth as soon as they were born. However, Prabhasa being the protagonist of the theft was cursed to live a long life on the earth filled with loneliness, pain, sadness and frustrations. The curse was softened to an extent that he would be one of the most illustrious men of his age.

The eight Vasus didn't desire to be born to an ordinary woman hence they went to Mother Ganga and requested her to give birth to them and drown the first seven soon after so that they can go back to heaven. Hence the first seven sons of Ganga and Shantanu were drowned in order to break their curse and Prabhasa was the one born as Devavrata or Gangeya, later known as Bhishma. Shantanu had agreed to Ganga's condition to never question any of her actions and this is the reason he remained quite when the first seven were drowned.

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Now coming to Duryodhana and Shakuni, these two were incarnations of Kali and Dwapar demons. Kali's companion was Dwapar and their incarnations were related on the earth too. Mama Bhanja 😆 Not lot info is available about Dwapar. I'm sharing some information from various sites.

"In Hinduism, Kali (IAST: kli; Tamil: ; Devngari: ; from a root kad "suffer, grieve, hurt; confound, confuse") is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and archenemy of Kalki, the 10th and final Avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. In the Kalki Purana, he is portrayed as a demon and the source of all evil. In the Mahabharata, he was a gandharva who possessed Nala, forcing him to lose his Kingdom in a game of dice to his brother Pushkara. His most famous incarnation is the Kaurava King Duryodhana. Kali is similar to the demon Kroniand his incarnation Kaliyan of Ayyavazhi mythology."

"Kali was later incarnated as king Duryodhana, eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers. His companion Dvapara became his uncle Sakuni. The day Duryodhana was born, he unleashed a donkey-like scream which the donkeys outside the home replied to. Despite the advise from Vidura to discard the evil baby, Duryodhana's father Dhritarashtra kept the child because demons had received a boon from Shiva that the future king would be invincible."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_(demon)

One more interesting post -

http://www.manuscrypts.com/myth/2010/05/14/amshaavatar/

Amshaavatar

Posted on May 14, 2010

As evil in the world increases, Vishnu and other devas incarnate in full or in part to rid the world of them. The full avatars are Purnaavatar and the part avatars are Amshaavatar. The Mahabharata Adiparva Chapters 54-64 has a complete list. Below is a list from the Shrimahadevibhagavata 4th Skanda ()Deva - Avatar)

Kashyapa - Vasudeva

Adisesha - Balabhadra

Narayanarshi - SriKrishna

Yamadharma - Yudhishtira

Ashwinis - Nakula, Sahadeva

Dharma - Vidura

Shiva - Ashwathama

Gandharvaraja - Devaka

Ashtavasu (one of the ashtavasus) - Bhishma

Marudganam - Kripa, Kritavarma

Aditi - Devaki

Nararshi - Arjun

Vayu - Bhima

Surya - Karna

Varuna - Shantanu

Marut - Virat

Hansa - Dhritarashtra

Brihaspati - Drona

Dwapara - Shakuni

Pavaka - Dhrishtadyumna

Kali - Duryodhana

Rakshasa - Shikhandi

Varuna - Drupada

Dhriti - Madri

Viprachitti - Jarasandha

Hayagriva - Keshi

Bashkala - Bhagadatta

Lamba - Pralamba

Sanalkumara - Pradyumna

Lakshmi - Panchali

Sidhi - Kunti

Mati - Gandhari

Jaya - Hiranyaksha

Vijaya - Hiranyakashipu

Hiranyaksha - Ravan

Hiranyakashipu - Kumbhakarna

Ravan - Sishupala

Kumbhakarna - Dantavaktra

Prahlad - Salya

Kalanemi - Kamsa

Anuhlada - Dhrishtaketu

Khara - Dhenuka

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m15/m15031.htm

"Vyasa said, 'Blessed be thou, O Gandhari, thou shalt behold thy sons and brothers and friends and kinsmen along with thy sires this night like men risen from sleep. Kunti also shall behold Karna, and she of Yadu's race shall behold her son Abhimanyu. Draupadi shall behold her five sons, her sires, and her brothers also. Even before ye had asked me, this was the thought in my mind. I entertained this purpose when I was urged to that effect by the king, by thee, O Gandhari, and by Kunti. Thou shouldst not grieve for those foremost of men. They met with death in consequence of their devotion to the established practices of Kshatriyas. O faultless one, the work of the gods could not but be accomplished. It was for accomplishing that object that those heroes came down on Earth. They were all portions of the deities. Gandharvas and Apsaras, and Pisachas and Guhyakas and Rakshasas, many persons of great sanctity, many individuals crowned with success (of penances), celestial Rishis, deities and Danavas and heavenly Rishis of spotless character, met with death on the battle-field of Kurukshetra. 1 It is heard that he that was the intelligent king of the Gandharvas, and named Dhritarashtra, took birth in the world of men as thy lord Dhritarashtra. Know that Pandu of unfading glory and distinguished above all others, sprung from the Maruts. Kshattri and Yudhishthira are both portions of the deity of Righteousness. Know that Duryodhana was Kali, and Sakuni was Dwapara. O thou of good features, know that Dussasana and others were all Rakshasas. Bhimasena of great might, that chastiser of foes, is from the Maruts. Know that this Dhananjaya, the son of Pritha, is the ancient Rishi Nara. Hrishikesa is Narayana, and the twins are the Aswins. The foremost of heat-giving ones, viz., Surya, having divided his body in twain, continued with one portion to give heat to the worlds and with another to live (on Earth.) as Karna. He that took his birth as the son of Arjuna, that gladdener of all, that heir to the possessions of the Pandavas, who was slain by six great car-warriors (fighting together), was Soma. He was born of Subhadra. Through Yoga-puissance he had divided

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himself in twain. Dhrishtadyumna who sprung with Draupadi from the sacrificial fire, was an auspicious portion of the deity of fire. Sikhandin was a Rakshasa. Know that Drona was a portion of Vrihaspati, and that Drona's son is born of a portion of Rudra. Know that Ganga's son Bhishma was one of the Vasus that became born as a human being. Thus, O thou of great wisdom, the deities had taken birth as human beings, and after having accomplished their purposes have gone back to Heaven. That sorrow which is in the hearts of you all, relating to the return of these to the other world, I shall today dispel. Do you all go towards the Bhagirathi.--You will then behold all those that have been slain on the field of battle.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'All the persons there present, having heard the words of Vyasa, raised a loud leonine shout and then proceeded towards the Bhagirathi. Dhritarashtra with all his ministers and the Pandavas, as also with all those foremost of Rishis and Gandharvas that had come there, set out as directed. Arrived at the banks of Ganga, that sea of men took up their abode as pleased them. The king possessed of great intelligence, with the Pandavas, took up his abode in a desirable spot, along with the ladies and the aged ones of his household. They passed that day as if it were a whole year, waiting for the advent of the night when they would behold the deceased princes. The Sun then reached the sacred mountain in the west and all those persons, having bathed in the sacred stream, finished their evening rites."'