Long ago in India there was a king by the name of Ambarisha, who was deeply devoted to Lord Vishnu. So pure and sincere was his worship that the great Sustainer put him under the protection of the Sudarshana Chakra, the unstoppable spinning disk that Vishnu uses as a weapon.

Then it happened that once, on the occasion of a certain festival in Vrindaban, Ambarisha was engaged in a particular fast. The rules of the ritual required that he break the fast on the twelfth day and feed his people. Naturally many people were coming to the sacred city to celebrate the conclusion of the fast, and among them came the sage Durvasa. Ambarisha received the sage with great honour, and Durvasa accepted the king’s invitation to be his guest at the opening of the fast, only asking that Ambarisha wait until he returned from bathing in the holy river.

Unfortunately the moment for the opening of the fast arrived, and the sage had not yet returned from his ablutions. For Ambarisha it was a sacred duty to conduct the ritual properly, and he felt that it would be disrespectful to Lord Vishnu not to conclude the fast at the required moment. Therefore, following the advice of his priests, he drank a little water to break the fast, intending to offer food to Durvasa when he returned.

The sage, though, had a fiery temper, and was furious that Ambarisha had broken his fast without waiting for him. He felt it to be extremely disrespectful. So angry did the sage become that he created a demon from one of the hairs of his head, intending it to destroy Ambarisha. But because of the king’s loyalty to Lord Vishnu, the Sudarshana Chakra intervened. In an instant it destroyed the demon, and then to Durvasa’s horror began to pursue him.

Fleeing for his life, Durvasa ran to the mighty gods Brahma and Shiva for protection, but they told him they were powerless to help. Then, still chased by the Chakra, he fled to Lord Vishnu himself, and prayed for protection. To his astonishment, though, Lord Vishnu said that even he could not help – for he was bound by the unwavering devotion of Ambarisha. If Durvasa wished to save himself, Vishnu told him, he should go to Ambarisha and beg forgiveness.

Then Durvasa returned to Ambarisha, threw himself at his feet and begged his pardon. And only when Ambarisha forgave him was the sage saved from the deadly Chakra.