[4] The rishi Durvasa, being short-tempered, is said to have both cursed and gifted boons to several notable deities and people in the Hindu scriptures.

Other sources for this story, such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Harivamsa, and Matsya Purana, do not mention Durvasa's involvement at all and ascribe the incident to other causes, such as the devas' and asuras' desire for immortality.

[19] According to a story in the Vishnu Purana, Durvasa, while wandering the earth in a state of ecstasy due to a vow he is observing, came by a Vidyadhari (nymph of the air) and demanded her heavenly wreath of flowers.

Indra immediately begged Durvasa's forgiveness, but the sage refused to retract or soften his curse.

Vishnu, in turn, advised them to call a truce with the asuras, and help them churn the ocean of milk to obtain the amrita (nectar of immortality), on the pretext of sharing it with them.

The devas took Vishnu's advice and called their truce with the asuras, and thus the gods and demons began planning their great enterprise.

Before the conversation, Yama gave Rama strict instructions that their dialogue is to remain confidential, and anyone who entered the room is to be executed.

Hence, when Durvasa made his demand, Lakshmana politely asked the sage to wait until Rama had finished his meeting.

Durvasa grew angry, and threatened to curse all of Ayodhya if Lakshmana did not immediately inform Rama of his arrival.

Lakshmana, in a dilemma, decided it would be better that he alone die to save all of Ayodhya from falling under Durvasa's curse, and so interrupted Rama's meeting to inform him of the sage's arrival.

On Vasishta's advice, he ordered Lakshmana to leave him for good, since such abandonment is equivalent to death, as far as the pious were concerned.

Kunti patiently put up with Durvasa's temper and his unreasonable requests (such as demanding food at odd hours of the night) and served the sage with great dedication.

Before departing, he rewarded Kunti by teaching her the Atharvaveda mantras, which enables a woman to invoke any god of her choice to beget children by them.

This enmity would eventually culminate in his death on the battlefield of Kurukshetra at the hands of Arjuna, his younger half-brother, who is unaware of their fraternal bond.

During this period of exile, the Pandavas would obtain their food by means of the Akshaya Patra, which would become exhausted each day once Draupadi finished her meal.

Because Draupadi had already eaten by the time Durvasa arrived that day, there was no food left to serve him and the Pandavas were very anxious as to their fate should they fail to feed such a venerable sage.

When she did, he partook of the lone grain of rice and a piece of vegetable that he found stuck to the vessel, and announced that he was satisfied by the "meal".

As Nara is speaking, Durvasa arrived at the assembly from Mount Kailash, but no one noticed him because they were all so engrossed in the discourse.