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Jaratkaru () is a rishi (sage) in Hinduism. He is the husband of the serpent-goddess Manasa and the father of their son, Astika. He appears as a secondary character in the tales of Manasa and Astika.
Jaratkaru is described as a great learned sage who practises severe asceticism. Though he wants to remain Brahmacharya, he marries Manasa on persuasion of his dead ancestors, who are doomed to fall to hell if he does not procreate. The marriage fails, with hardly any emotional bond between the couple. Jaratkaru finally forsakes Manasa when she wakes him up from his deep slumber, and he feels insulted. However, he blesses Manasa before leaving who gives birth to Astika in his absence. Little is known about his early life before meeting Manasa or his later life, after abandoning her.
In the first, shorter telling, Jaratkaru is described as being as powerful as a Prajapati, having performed severe tapas (austerities) and practised the vow of celibacy ( Brahmacharya).van Buitenen pp. 69–71 In the second version, Jaratkaru is called a scholar of the Vedas and its branches, "controlled, great-spirited", and observant of great vows and austerities.
The poor and aged sage wanders the world in vain in search of a bride but does not find a suitable one. Once, in the forest, recalling the promise to his manes, he prays three times for a bride. In the second version, he cries out loud in frustration and sorrow over his futile efforts.
Vasuki emerges and offers his younger sister Manasa to the sage, who accepts her after cross-checking with his criteria. Vasuki also promises to support Manasa. After the marriage, Jaratkaru lives in the abode of the serpents with his new wife. Jaratkaru warns his new wife that he would abandon her and his home if she ever displeases him, so she serves her eccentric husband dutifully. In due course, Jaratkaru unites with Manasa, making her pregnant.
The Brahma Vaivarta Purana portrays Manasa as the daughter of the sage Kashyapa, who is the one who betroths her to Jaratkaru. The marriage is never consummated as Jaratkaru even refuses to touch Manasa, and sleeps separately under a fig tree.McDaniel pp. 153–4
The Brahma Vaivarta Purana narrates that Jaratkaru oversleeps and misses the time of his morning rituals. The agitated sage threatens to banish Manasa to the hell for disobedient wives. The Sun steps in and placates the sage, praising him as a powerful sage, but Jaratkaru has made up his mind to abandon his wife. The god Brahma intervenes and states that it will be inappropriate to abandon her, unless he grants her a child. Jaratkaru touches Manasa's abdomen and impregnates her. Then he departs, foretelling that Manasa will give birth to a renowned sage.
The Manasa Vijaya (1495) by Bipradas Pipilai, a devotional paean to Manasa from the Mangal-Kāvya genre, describes how Jaratkara (Jaratkaru) abandons his wife on their wedding night itself. Manasa is a daughter of the god Shiva, who is hated by Shiva's wife and her stepmother Parvati. Shiva marries Manasa to Jaratkara. Chandi does not want Manasa to have a happy married life and thus asks her to wear serpent ornaments on her wedding night. While Manasa sleeps in peace, Jaratkara stays awake in fear of the snakes. In the middle of the night, Chandi throws a frog in the room, which causes the snakes to hiss and swarm around the room in pursuit of the frog. A terrified Jaratkara runs away from the house and hides in a conch in the ocean. Further, he becomes scared of the snake goddess and refuses to stay with her. However, he spends a few nights with her and impregnates her and thus performs his "husbandly duty".McDaniel pp. 149–150
Little is told about the sage after his exit from Manasa's life and the main story. In due course, a son named Astika is born to the couple. Astika stops the sacrifice of Janamejaya and rescues the serpents. The ancestors reach heaven as Jaratkaru did procreate. The first telling in the Mahabharata says that after a long life, Jaratkaru dies and also attains Svarga.
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