DIVINE INFORMATION 2-28 Matsya Purana part14
Posted by: "DILIP KUMARRAVINDRAN" [email protected] prdili Wed Sep 15, 2010 6:20 am (PDT) Pururava and Urvashi Pururavawas a very strong king who ruled the earth well. He performed one hundred ashvamedha yajnas. Thethree goals of human life are dharma (righteousness) , artha (wealth) and kama(that which is desired). (Usually, a fourth goal of moksha (salvation) is added.) These threegoals wished to see which of themPururava revered the most. They therefore adopted human forms and came to visit Pururava. Pururavatreated them with utmost respect and gave them golden seats to sit on. He offered them all sortsof offerings. But in the process, Dharmareceived more of the offerings than Artha and Kama. This angered Artha andKama. "Youwill be destroyed," Artha cursed Pururava. "Youwill go mad over Urvashi," Kama cursed Pururava. ButDharma blessed Pururava. "You will live for long and you will never deviate from the righteous path," hesaid. "Your descendants will rule for ever." Havingthus cursed and blessed Pururava, Dharma, Artha and Kama disappeared. On oneparticular occasion, Pururava was driving his hariot through a forest. He suddenly found that a demon named Keshiwas abducting an apsara (dancer ofheaven). This apsara was none other than Urvashi. Pururava defeated the demon and rescued Urvashi. He restored her to Indra, the king of the gods. Indra wasdeligthed at this act and Indra andPururava became friends. Thesage Bharata taught mankind how to sing and dance. To celebrate Urvashis return, Indra askedBharata to stage a performance. As artistes, Bharata chose three apsaras. Theywere Menaka, Urvashi and Rambha. Menaka and Rambha danced as they should. ButUrvashi was attracted by King Pururavaand kept looking at him. The result was that Urvashi fell out of step. This angeredBharata and he cursed Urvashi that shewould have to spend fifty-five years on earth. Onearth, Urvashi married Pururava and they had eight sons named Ayu, Dridayau, Ashvayu, Dhanayu, Dhritamana,Vasu, Shuchividya and Shatayu. (Thestory of how Pururava lost Urvashi is not given in the Matsya Purana. Apart from the Mahabharata, itcan be found in several Puranas.) Matsya Purana part15 Posted by: "DILIP KUMARRAVINDRAN" [email protected] prdili Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:28 am (PDT) Yayati Inthe lunar line there was a king named Nahusha and Nahusha’s son was Yayati. Yayatihad two wives , Sharmishtha and Devayani. Sharmishtha was the daughter of Vrishaparva, the king of thedanavas (demons). And Devayanis fatherwas Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons. Devayanigave birth to Yadu and Turvasu and Sharmishtha gave birth to Druhya, Anu and Puru. Yayatiruled the world extremely well for many years. He performed many yajnas. Buteventually he grew old. The problem was that although Yayati grew old, he was not yet tired of sensualpleasures. He still desired to savorthe joys that the world had to offer. Yayatitold his five sons. "Because of Shukracharyaтs curse, an untimely old age has come upon me and I amnot content with what I have savoured oflife. I request one of you to give me his youth and accept my old age in return. When I have satedmyself with worldly pleasures, I will take back my old age and return theyouth." Except for Puru, the other four sons flatlyrefused such an exchange. They had no desire to part with their valued youth.They were thereupon cursed by theirfather. (Although not mentioned in the Matsya Purana., the curse was that theyor their descendants would never be kings.) Asfor Puru, he said, "Please accept my youth and be happy. It is my duty toserve and I will gladly take upon me your old age." For a thousand years Yayati savoured the pleasuresof the world with Puru’s youth. Athousand years were not than enough to satisfy Yayati. He accepted his old age and returned Puruтsyouth. He blessed Puru for his obedienceand announced to the word that Puru was his only true son. Puruinherited the kingdom after Yayati. His descendants were known as the Pauravas. It was in this line that KingBharata was born. It is after Bharata that the land we live in is known asBharatavarsha. The sages interrupted Lomaharshana. "You are going too fast." Theysaid. "What is this curse of Shukracharyaтs that Yayati referred to? You have forgotten to tell us aboutthat." "Iwill," replied Lomaharshana. "But first, let me tell you about Kachaand Devayani." I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/74919255.4074181.1638158924687%40mail.yahoo.com.
