॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
PURURAVAS OF THE LUNAR DYNASTY
Soma, the First of the Lunar Dynasty (1-7)
Sage Shuka said
1. Oh King! Now hear about the holy Lunar Dynasty. In that dynasty were born kings of holy fame like Aila otherwise known as Purúravas.
2. From the navel-lotus of the thousand-headed Cosmic Being, Virat Purusha, Brahma was born, and to him was born Atri, a sage equal to his father in meritorious qualities.
3. From the tears of bliss that flowed from Atri's eyes was born Soma (moon-deity) who is of the nature of nectar (Amrutha). Brahma made him the master of Brahmanas, herbs and plants, and the stars.
4. Conquering all three worlds, he performed several Rajasuya Yajnas. Out of his inordinate arrogance, Soma abducted Brihaspati's wife Tārā.
5. In spite of Brihaspati's repeated requests to him for the release of Tārā, Soma heeded not, out of his pride and infatuation. As a sequel, a fierce war broke out between the Devas and Asuras.
6. Owing to his enmity towards Brihaspati, Sukra, the preceptor of the Asuras, took the side of Soma, the moon-deity, along with his Asura following. And Rudra, because of his love for his own preceptor Angiras whose son Brihaspati was, took the side of the latter along with all his host of spirits and elementals.
7. Indra joined the side of his preceptor Brihaspati along with all the Devas. Thus on account of Tārā arose a war between Devas and Asuras, highly destructive to both sides.
Budha the Son of Soma (8-14)
8. Requested by the sage Angiras, Brahma reprimanded Soma and made him restore Tārā to Brihaspati. But Brihaspati found her pregnant with child.
9. Thereupon Brihaspati said: "Oh evil one! Throw out, throw out the foetus planted by others in your womb, which is my field. Do not however be afraid that I shall reduce you to ashes, my good lady. For I am myself most eager for an issue.'
10. Tārā thereupon bashfully ejected the foetus, which turned out to be a boy luminous like gold. Both Brihaspati and Soma developed an interest in that infant.
11. While Brihaspati and Soma were disputing about the ownership of the child, the Devas and the Rishis asked Tārā to declare whose it was. She only remained silent bashfully.
12. At this, the child became angry and said to his mother: 'Oh evil woman! Why do you cover up your sin with false bashfulness? Speak out!'
13. Brahma thereupon consoled her with gentle words and questioned her in privacy. She reluctantly admitted that Soma was the father of the child. So Soma took possession of that child.
14. Oh King! Brahma named him Budha. Soma, the king of the stars, was rejoiced to find him highly intelligent.
Pururavas unites with Urvashi (15-25)
15-16. As stated earlier (IX.1.35) King Pururavas was born as the son of Budha by Ila. Hearing from Narada about the form, virtues, wealth, courage and other attractive features of Pururavas, the heavenly beauty ApsaraUrvashi fell in love with him and approached him.
17-18. In a parallel development, owing to a curse by Mitra and Varuna, Urvashi was consigned to the earth. Hearing about Pururavas, who was in beauty like Cupid embodied, Urvashi mustered the courage to appear before him. That king was delighted to see her, and with eyes wide open and horripilation all over, he spoke to her softly.
The King said: 19. "Welcome to you, Oh beauty! Please be seated. What can I do for you? Enjoy life with me for long years to come."
Urvashi replied: 20. "Oh handsome one! There is no woman whose eyes and mind would not get stuck to you. Desirous of the delight of your embrace, my mind and my eyes refuse to part from your limbs.
21. I shall enjoy life with you, Oh King, who have done me this honour! There is but one condition. Protect like a treasure these two rams of mine that I entrust to you. I shall certainly enjoy life with one like you. For on praiseworthy men fall the choice of women.
22. I should be fed with ghee which forms my only diet. Also, I should never see you naked except at the time of love-making."
Purūravas, intelligent as he was, agreed to these conditions.
He said: 23. "O what a form! What a form! What a loving demeanour! All the world would get infatuated by it. Where is the man that will not oblige a woman of this kind, who has approached him of her own accord?"
24. Pururavas now sported as he pleased in the heavenly gardens like Chaitraratha in the company of Urvashi who was an expert in purveying pleasure.
25. Inebriated with the sweet flavour of her mouth, he sported for long years with her, whose body emitted the fragrance of the lotus.
Pururavas separated from Urvashi (26-39)
26. Now Indra, failing to see Urvashi any longer in the heavenly region, felt that heaven was not worth living in without her, and despatched Gandharvas to bring her back.
27. In the dead of night when it was pitch dark, the Gandharvas stole away the pair of rams entrusted to the king by Urvashi.
28. When she heard the bleating of the rams as they were being led away, Urvashi, who loved them as her children, cried out in alarm, "Oh, I am lost! This eunuch of a husband has failed me! A worthless fellow, he pretends to be a hero!
29. On account of the faith I put in him, I have been undone. The rams, which are to me like my own children, are being taken away by thieves. It looks that at night he lies in a place like a frightened woman; only during daytime, he is a man."
30. Like an elephant assailed with a goad, Pururavas felt hit by these verbal arrows, and without caring even to dress himself, he rushed out naked in the night, sword in hand, in a mood of extreme anger.
31. The Gandharvas left the rams there, and illumined the place with lightning. Now Urvashi saw her husband coming undressed, with the rams.
32. On returning, Pururavas did not find his wife in the bed. (Urcashi had left him since she found him naked). He became dejected with sorrow, was grief-stricken and was lost in thought of her. He searched for her all the world over like a demented man.
33. Pururavas discovered her at last at Kurukshetra beside the Saraswati river, with five of her friends, all in a gay mood. He thereupon said to her, appealing:
34. "O dear one! Stop, stop. Oh angry one!. You cannot go away from here without satisfying me. Let us chat for a while.
35. Oh lady! This excellent body of mine, which you have attracted to this distance, will now fall down dead and become food for wolves and vultures."'
Urvashi said: 36. "Don't die, please. Are you not a powerful man? Allow not these wolves of women to eat you up! Women, like wolves, have no enduring friendship or kindness.
37. Women are pitiless, cruel, impatient, and ready to risk anything to gain what they have set their hearts on. Even for petty ends, they may murder a husband or a brother who had put trust in them.
38. Pretending to be very faithful to those who have not yet seen through their deceit, they go about freely in quest of newer and newer lovers.
39. At the end of each year, my lord, you can spend a night with me, and you will have another issue, besides the one I am now bearing."
Subsequent History of Pururavas (40-49)
40-41. Seeing Urvashi expectant, Pururavas returned to his city. One year after, he returned to Kurukshetra and was delighted to see Urvashi coming back to him with a splendid child. He lived with her that night. Finding him extremely grief-stricken at the prospect of separation from her, Urvashi said as follows to that pitiable king:
42. "Seek to propitiate the Gandharvas. They will give me to you." On the king extolling them, the Gandharvas were pleased, and they gave him a fire pot, wherein he could keep the fire for performing the ritual for obtaining Urvashi. He travelled with it in hand identifying it with Urvashi, but soon realised it was only a fire pot and not Urvashi.
43. He then kept that fire pot in the forest and went home. Every night he spent meditating on her. In his mind so meditating, the Trayī, the three Vedas dealing with rituals, dawned at the start of the Tretayuga.
44-45. He now went to the place where he had kept the fire-pot, and saw nearby an Aswattha tree growing as a graft from the bottom of a Sami tree. Desirous of attaining the realms of Urvashi, he made two fire sticks with that Aswattha for lighting a sacrificial fire. Meditating on the lower fire stick as Urvashi, on the upper one as himself, and on a piece of wood kept between as their son expected to be born, he rubbed the sticks, to the accompaniment of proper Mantras.
46. From this rubbing of the fire sticks arose the sacrificial fire or Jātaveda, called so because it helps one gain heavenly enjoyment. It became the threefold fire of Ahavaniya, Garhapatya, and Dakshina by the power of meditation prescribed in the Veda. The King adopted the fire as his son.
47. In that fire, he offered sacrifice to Bhagavan Sri Hari, the embodiment of all deities, the all-powerful and the sense-transcending one, desiring the realm of Urvashi.
48. In the Kritayuga, the Pranava (Om), which includes in it every possible sound, alone was the Veda. And the Deity too was one only, and that was Narayana. So also Agni or sacred fire, and Varna or human community were all single.
49. It was at the beginning of Tretayuga alone that the one Veda became three by the action of Purūravas. With the help of Agni, his son, he attained to the world of Gandharvas.
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The famed story of Pururavas' forlorn love for Urvashi has not escaped the attention of Kalidasa! He weaves a slightly different story, but at its core is unfulfilled love.
