Among them, Dyau was identified as the principal offender and was therefore sentenced to a prolonged human life, while the other seven Vasus were released shortly after birth.
Gaṅgā narrates to King Śantanu the story of the eight Vasus and their curse -
‘”In the evening, Varuna’s son returned to the hermitage with the fruit he had collected. He did not see the cow and her calf in that supreme wood. Then the one blessed with the power of austerities looked for her in the forest. But though he searched, the sage could not find her. Through his divine sight, he then found that she had been stolen by the vasus. His anger arose and he cursed the vasus. ‘Because the vasus have stolen my cow which yields sweet milk and has a handsome tail, there is no doubt that they will all be born as men.’ O bull among the Bharata lineage! Thus did the illustrious Apava, supreme among sages, curse the vasus in his anger. Having cursed them, the illustrious one returned to his austerities. O king! Thus, in his wrath, did the one blessed with the power of austerities curse the eight vasus. The rishi was immensely powerful and knew the nature of the brahman. As soon as they knew that they had been cursed by the rishi, the gods went to the hermitage of the great-souled one. O bull among kings! The vasus tried to pacify the rishi. O tiger among men! But they failed to obtain the grace of Apava, who was learned in all dharma and was supreme among rishis. The righteous sage said, ‘O Dhara! You and the other vasus have been cursed. But you will all be freed from your curse within a year. But Dyou is the one whose act has led to your being cursed by me. Because of his own deeds, he will have to live in the world of men for a long time. Though uttered in anger, my words cannot amount to a falsehood. However, the great-souled one will not have offspring in the world of men. He will be devoted to dharma and will be skilled in the usage of all weapons. He will be engaged in doing that which brings his father pleasure and he will forsake pleasure with women.’ Having addressed all the vasus in this way, the great rishi went away. And all the vasus then came to me together.
‘“O king! They craved a boon from me. ‘O Ganga! As soon as each one of us is born, you should yourself throw us into the water.’ O supreme among kings! I agreed and acted accordingly, in order to free them from a life in the world of men, a consequence of the curse. O best of kings! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O king! Dyou alone will have to live in the world of men for a long time, because of the rishi’s curse.”’
- 93, Sambhava Parva, Mahabharata