Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.1595

c7.1595

KACA. The first son of Bṛhaspati. That extremely beautiful boy was a great favourite of the devas.
1) Genealogy. Descending in order from Viṣṇu--Brahmā--Aṅgiras--Bṛhaspati--Kaca.
2) How he studied the secret of Mṛtasañjīvanī. The Devas and Asuras always quarrelled with each other. Devas accepted Bṛhaspati as their guru and the asuras made Śukrācārya their guru. Śukrācārya knew an art which Bṛhaspati did not know, the secret of Mṛtasañjīvanī. When the devas cut the Asuras to pieces, Śukrācārya used to bring them back to life by his knowledge of Mṛtasañjīvanī. Mṛtasañjīvanī is the art of reviving the dead. Devas were at a loss to know what to do. They wanted to learn the secret of Mṛtasañjīvanī from Śukrācārya somehow. It was imperative that they should learn it. Then they found out a way. They sent Kaca, son of Bṛhaspati. Kaca went to Śukrācārya and told him that he was the son of Bṛhaspati and had come to him to be his disciple for a period of a thousand years doing service to him. The modesty of the boy appealed to Śukrācārya and he accepted Kaca as his disciple. Devayānī, daughter of Śukrācārya, fell in love with Kaca. They were always together as an inseparable couple. Asuras did not like the advent of Kaca to the Āśrama of Śukrācārya. They knew that he had come to study the secrets of the Asuras. Once Kaca went alone to look after the cows and the Asuras followed him stealthily. When Kaca entered deep into the forest the Asuras killed him and gave him to the wolves. It became dusk. The cows returned to the Āśrama without the cowherd. Devayānī waited for a long time for Kaca to come. Not seeing him Devayānī went weeping to her father and said, "Oh, father, the sun has set. You have performed your nightly fire sacrifice. The cattle have come back by themselves and still Kaca has not returned home. I fear he is dead or has been killed. I cannot live without him." The affectionate Śukrācārya could not bear the sight of his dear daughter weeping and so he went to the forest with Devayānī and employing the art of Sañjīvanī he invoked the dead youth to appear. At