Devibhagavatapurana 2.3.15

2.3.15

sūta uvāca |
ikṣvākuvaṃśaprabhavo mahābhiṣa iti smṛtaḥ |
satyavāndharmaśīlaśca cakravartī nṛpottamaḥ ||

At this Sûta said:-- In ancient days there reigned a king named Mahâbhisa, in the family of Iksâku endowed with all the qualities of a great king; he was the foremost of all the kings, truthful and religious. That highly intelligent king performed thousand horse-sacrifices (Asva medhas) one hundred Vâjapeya sacrifices and thereby satisfied Indra, the king of the Devas and went to Heavens. Once, on an occasion, that king went to the abode of Brahmâ; the other gods also went there to serve Prajâpati. The great river, Gangâ Devî, too, assuming the feminine form, went to Brahmâ to serve him. Now, in the interval, violent winds arose and the clothing of Gangâ Devî went off; at this the Devas did not look at her; rather kept their faces downwards; but the king Mahâbhisa continued gazing at her. Gangâ also came to know the king and that he had become attached to her. Brahmâ, seeing that both of them are love-stricken and are shameless, became angry and cursed them immediately:-- O king! you better take your birth again in the human world and practise great meritorious deeds and come again to this Heaven. Thus saying, Brahmâ looked at Gangâ, who was attached to the king, and addressed her:-- “You too better go to the human world and become his wife.” Both of them, the king as well as Gangâ, came out of Brahmâ's abode, very much grieved in their hearts. The king Mahâbhisa thought of coming to this world and reflected on the kings thereof and settled to make the king Pratîpa of Puru's family his father. At this time the eight Vasus with their wives wandering in various places and enjoying as they liked came to the hermitage of Vas'istha. Amongst the aforesaid eight Vasus Prithu and others, one Vasu Dyau's wife seeing Nandini, the sacrificial cow (Kâmadhenu) of Vas'istha asked her husband:-- “Whose is this excellent cow that I see? Vasu then replied as follows:-- “ O Beautiful one! This is Vas'istha's cow. Whoever, be he a man or woman drinks her milk gets his longevity extended to ten thousand years and his youth never ends.” Hearing this, the Vasu's wife said:-- “There is a very beautiful comrade (Sakhî) of mine, the daughter of the Rajarsî-Us'îna in the world, of auspicious qualities. O Mahâbhâga! Kindly bring to me from Vas'istha's hermitage that auspicious sacrificial milch cow Nandini together with her calf that yields all desires; my Sakhî will then drink her milk and be thereby free from disease, old age and become the chief amongst all mankind. Hearing thus, his wife's word, the Vasu Dyau, though sinless, stole away together with Prithu and the other Vasus the cow Nandini in utter defiance to the self-controlled Muni Vas'istha. When the cow Nandini had been stolen, the great ascetic Vas'istha came quickly to the hermitage with abundance of fruits.
The ascetic Muni Vas'istha, not finding, in his hermitage, his cow with her calf, searched for her in many forests and caves; but he, the son of Varuna, could not find out his cow even after prolonged searches; he, then, took recourse to meditation and came to know that the Vasus had stolen the cow and became angry. He expressed:-- “When the Vasus have stolen this my cow in utter defiance to my self, they must be born amongst men.” When the religious Varuna's son Vas'istha thus cursed the Vasus, they became very sorry and absent-minded; all of them went to Vas'istha's hermitage and saw him there; they began to supplicate him as much as they could; and took refuge under him. Seeing the Vasus standing before him in an extremely distressed condition, the virtuous Muni Vas'istha said:-- “You all will be free from the curse within one year; but the Vasu Dyau will dwell amongst men for a long, long period as he had stolen direct my Nandini with her calf.”