Upon hearing of his relationship with Sharmishtha, Devayani complained to her father, who in turn cursed Yayati to old age in the prime of life, but later allowed him to exchange it with his son, Puru.

Nahusha's sons, headed by Yati and Yayati, were educated by thousands of Brahmarshis and the devas who used to wait upon their father.

Nahusha eventually became arrogant, and was punished severely, as he was cursed by the saptrishi (seven sages) to be snake and to live further in Naraka (Hell).

[citation needed] The legend of Yayati appears in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of the ninth canto of the Bhagavata Purana.

[4] Yayati's father, Nahusha, is transformed into a python by a curse uttered by the sages, as punishment for his arrogance.

While they bathe, Indra transforms himself into a strong wind, collecting their clothes upon the stream's banks, and depositing them in a heap.

Later, Yayati, son of Nahusha, chanced upon the pool after hunting, and helps Devayani to climb out of it, before returning to his kingdom.

Shukra is enraged, and to placate him, Vrishaparvan agrees to offer a thousand maids, along with his daughter Sharmishtha, to serve Devayani.

Nevertheless, Sharmishtha manages to convince him, saying that it would be against dharma if he were to refuse her request; he being the king, it was his responsibility to ensure the needs of the citizens, and she is desperate to have a child.

Enraged at his son-in-law's disobedience, Shukra curses Yayati with premature old age in punishment for inflicting such pain upon his daughter.

[6] In the words of the story, Yayati enjoys all the pleasures of the senses 'for a thousand years' and, by experiencing passion to the full, comes to realise its utter futility, saying: "Know this for certain... not all the food, wealth and women of the world can appease the lust of a single man of uncontrolled senses.

His spiritual practices are, at long last, blessed with success and, alone in the deep woods, he is rewarded with ascension to Svarga - the heavenly realm of the righteous, ruled by Indra, that is but one step below the ultimate liberation of moksha.

Yayati begged his pardon, so Indra said even though he would be thrown out of heaven, he would fall amidst virtuous and wise humans.

His grandsons: Ashtaka, Vasuman, Prattarddana, and Sivi (kings and sons of Mamata or Madhavi) met him.

Further descendants were part of the Kuru kingdom, including Shantanu, Dhritarashtra, Pandu, Yudhishthira, Abhimanyu, and Parikshit.

In modern language and usage, trading conscientious behaviour for external gain is sometimes called Yayati Syndrome.