Story 3. Mahabharata - A Vedic Love Story : Pururavas, the Celestial Nymph & the Sacred Goat

                                             Blog by Kalpesh Arun Patil

1. Introduction

Urvashi is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as the Puranas. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer.

 

2. Slap a Thigh, Emerges Urvashi

The sage-brothers Nara and Narayana perform penance to please the creator god Brahma, but this makes Indra (the king of the devas) insecure about his throne and he does not want the sages to acquire divine powers.

As a result, he creates multiple illusions to break their penance, but all of his tricks fail. Finally, he orders the apsaras of his court, including Rambha, Menaka, and Tilottama, to go to Nara-Narayana and distract them through seduction.

Accompanied by the god of love, Kama, and his consort, Rati, the apsaras go to Nara-Narayana, and start to dance seductively in front of them. However, the sages remain unaffected by this and decide to break the pride of the apsaras.

Narayana slaps his thigh, from which Urvashi emerges. Her beauty leaves Indra's apsaras matchless, and they become ashamed of their evil act. Nara and Narayana assure Indra that they would not take his throne, and gift Urvashi to him. She occupied the place of pride in Indra’s court.

 

3. Pururavas and Urvashi Marriage

       

       

Pururavas is the son of BUDH and ILA, a Chandra-vamsis, once saw Urvashi bathing in a river. Urvashi was an apsara, a Celestial -nymph, who lived with the gods and only occasionally stepped on earth. She was so beautiful that when she walked, all the animals stopped to gaze at her, every tree, every bush, every blade of grass reached out to touch her. Pururavas fell in love with her. Marry me he said. Be my queen and live in my palace.

 

4. The Marriage Condition

In a spirit of play, the nymph indulged the king and said, only if you promise to take care of my pet goats and never let anyone but I see you naked. To her great surprise the mortal Pururavas agreed, leaving her no choice but to become his wife. It was a new experience for Urvashi and she enjoyed it. She bore her human husband many sons. 

 

5. The Promise is Broken

It is said that the lifetime of man is just a blink of Indra’s eye. And yet Indra could not bear this momentary separation from Urvashi. He ordered the celestial musicians know as Gandharvas to bring her back.

The Gandharvas stole Urvashi’s pet goats from under the bed while Pururavas was busy making love to her. Urvashi saw this from the corner of her eye and cried in a stricken voice. My Goats, someone is stealing my goats. Keep your promise, husband, and bring them back. 

Pururavas immediately jumped off the bed and ran to catch the thieves without bothering to cover himself. As he ran out of the palace behind the thieves, Indra hurled a thunderbolt across the sky. In the flash of the lightning, everyone in the city saw Pururavas naked.

The condition that kept Urvashi on earth, away from the gods, was as a result broken.

 

6. After effects of Promise: Urvashi Returns to heaven

 

 Grief-sickened, he searches for her across the country and finds her disguised as a swan in a lake. He supplicates her to return but she refuses. Seeing his sorrow, Urvashi reveals that she is pregnant with their child and instructs him to return to the same place the next year so that they could spend that night together. Urvashi would return once every year to him and bore six sons.

 

7. Pururavas unite with Urvashi

Following their birth, Urvashi suggests Pururavas to perform penance to transform himself into a Gandharvas and ascend to heaven. Pururavas successfully accomplishes the task and is able to reunite with Urvashi in heaven.

 

8. Sons of Urvashi and, Pururavas

As Urvashi Returns once every year they bore Six Children's

1. Ayus or Ayu

2. Dhimat

3. Amavasu

4. Dhridhayus

5. Vanayus

6. Satayus.

 

9. History repeats itself

The obsessive passion of Pururavas for Urvashi that led to his downfall would become manifest generations later in Shantanu, not once but twice, first in his love for Ganga and his love for Satyavati, with the same disastrous consequences. Because human memory is short and history always repeats itself.        

 

10. Next Blog

The Saga of Nahusha (Ayu's Son): How He Married Ashokasundari and Defeated Hunda