CELESTIALNYMPHS- PART 3 APSARASURVASHI -CONTINUED
Urvashi’s SecretAdmirer: Durmada This story is in the Brahmanda Purana, Chapter 3 Hamsa, the king of the Gandharvas, had an army general namedDurmada. Durmada had fallenin love with Urvashi. Whenever he encountered her, we would followher with lust. On many occasions, Durmada had confessed his undying love forUrvashi, but Urvashi had immediately rejectedhim. She was, in fact, already married to King Pururavas. One day, Pururavas and Urvashi were present in the court ofIndra. There, Pururavas signalled to Urvashi that they would meet in the corner of the Nandana Garden atnight. Durmada saw this gesture, and he understood what Pururavaswas telling Urvashi. Herealized that this was his chance. He called a Vidhyadhari (celestial woman) named Unmada, andtogether, they made a devious plan. Unmada disguised herself asUrvashi, and Durmada disguised himself as Pururavas. Thus, at nightfall, Durmada and Unmada arrived at the NandanaGarden disguised as Pururavas and Urvashi respectively. When Urvashi sawDurmada, she thought it was Pururavas and they united in sexual intercourse.When Pururavas saw Unmada, he thought it was Urvashi, so they had sexualintercourse as well. After they had intercourse, Durmada beganloudly laughing. His ploy had succeeded. Urvashi was initiallyperplexed, and then realized his true identity. This was not her husbandPururavas. This was that stalker Durmada. At that time, Unmada also arrivedthere with a dumbfounded Pururavas. Urvashi was furious. “Durmada, I curse you that you will be born on Earth as aRakshasa. And your partner Unmada, she will also suffer a terrible fate. She will be born on Earth as thedaughter of King. She will fall in love with one man, but she will end upmarrying another!” Durmada and Unmada wereshocked by this curse. They begged Urvashi to forgive them. They didn’t want to leave heavenfor Earth. Urvashi took some pity on them and said, “Durmada will beborn as the son of Unmada. Durmada will die during a war and attain heaven.Unmada’s husband will also die. With the death of her husband and her son, shewill be so sad that she will jump into a fire and obtain heaven as well.” Urvashi’s curse came true,but that is another story for another day. My note- This legend is new to me. Through Google also Icould not verify Pururuvas in search ofUrvasi- finding in Kurukshethra One time, when he came to Kurukshetra, he couldn’t believehis eyes. Urvashi was standing right there in front of him. “Urvashi, my love.Wait! You can’t leave me during such a difficult time. I can’t live withoutyou!” Urvashi looked at his state and felt pity. She said, “You have fallen fromgrace. You were once a powerful king, and now you are a ruined man, obsessedwith a woman you can never have. So stop this madness and go back to yourkingdom. Rule well!” Saying this, Urvashi vanished. But Pururavas was inconsolable.For the rest of his life, he remained a deranged man, with no purpose orambition. My note- The information is partially correct- Details asper Google search is as follows:- Kurukshetra (specifically the Anyatah-plaksha lake) is thelocation where Apsara Urvashi met King Pururavas after her initial departure, though it was not necessarily a single "last" visit in allversions of the legend. According to variousPuranic and Vedic sources: The Meeting at Kurukshetra: After Pururavas accidentallybroke the conditions of their marriage, Urvashi returned to heaven. Theheartbroken king wandered for a long time before discovering her at a lake inKurukshetra, where she was sporting with another Apsaras. The Annual Agreement:During this meeting, Urvashi refused to return to his palace but agreed to meethim at that same spot once a year for one night. Handing Over the Children: In many versions, these annualvisits at Kurukshetra continued for several years. She used these meetings tohand over the sons she had borne him (most notably their eldest, Ayu). The Final Separation: While Kurukshetra was the site of theirrecurring "last" earthly meetings, the story often concludes with Pururavas performing a firesacrifice (Agni-yajna) to become a Gandharva himself so he could join her inheaven permanently, rather than waiting for her visits on earth. Urvasi bathes inPrayag to get her celestial status after living in Earth Urvashi after living with king Pururuvas used to get her transformation after bathing at Prayaga, whichrestores her celestial status. Thisillustrates the redemptive power of sacred water. King Pururuva’s family lineage The next passage recounts Pururavas’s family lineagebeginning with the creator god Brahma, from whom he is descended in only four generations.Brahma had a son named Atri, who married Bhadra; their son was called Soma, orthe moon. A minor deity, Som was prominent in the ancient Vedic period as thesource of soma, the intoxicating divine elixir used in Vedic sacrifices. Somawas highly attractive and eloped with Tara, the daughter of sage Brihaspati,while Brihaspati was away. Taragave birth to a son, Budha, who together with Ila conceived Pururavas. Pururavas becomes “a great king and established the LunarDynasty named after his grandfather” (“Story of Urvashi and Pururava”). Pururavas’slineage establishes his proximity to the gods, his kingly virtue, and his roleas founder of the dynasty in which the action of the Mahabharata takes place. Dramatic meeting of kingPururava and apsapras Urvasi Urvasi, who “found the atmosphere of heaven stifling,”often sneaks down to earth after dark with fellow nymphs “to feel the wet dewunder her feet and the soft breeze against her body” Heaven to Urvasi is “cold and synthetic.” Forhis part, Pururavas is jealous of heaven’s glories, which he has seen firsthandas a regular guest at Indra’s court. After these visits, Pururavas wouldrelieve his envy by flyingabove the clouds in his chariot “at break-neck speed.” Just before dawn one such night, on her way back to heaven, Urvasi is kidnapped by ademon. Pururavas witnesses the abduction and flies to her rescue.The story lingers over the life-changing moment of their first touch: “for thefirst time Urvashi experienced the warm flesh of a mortal, for the first timeshe heard blood pouring in veins and for the first time she heard theinhalation and exhalation of breath” (“Story”). Pururavas feels “high” beingnext to the most ravishing of all the heavenly apsaras, whom he has admiredbefore in Indra’s court. But Pururavas leaves Urvasi and the other apsaras togo on their way. They depart passionately in love, but neither knows withconfidence whether the other feels the same way. Separation and longing ensue. Urvasi waits for Pururavas to“make the first move” (“Story”); she is a woman of her time in this regard andholds to traditional gender roles. Meanwhile, Pururavas, in his virtuoushumility, cannot imagine Urvasi giving up pride of place in heaven in order tolive with a mere mortal, and he avoids rejection by doing nothing: “So bothpined for each other.” In heaven, Urvasi gives a dance performance in which sheplays the role of Lakṣmī, goddess of wealth. Distractedby thoughts of Pururavas, she mistakenly calls his name during the performanceinstead of Visṇu’s.The error offends her teacher, the sage and dramaturge Bharata, whopunishes her with a curse: she will be able to live with Pururavas and willhave his son, but if ever Pururavas and his son lay eyes on each other, Urvasimust return to heaven. Sheis thus forced to choose between them. Different versions ofthe Pururuvas- Urvashi legends In the Mahabharata, thisreunion marks the end of the story. Other versions of the tale, however, continue to differentendings. The Rig Vedic hymndealing with Urvasi and Pururavas takes the form of a conversation between thecouple near the end of events that unfold only after their reunion atGandhmadan. As told in a later Brahamana text, and later again in theBhagavata Purana, these events are, in brief, as follows. Urvasi lives withPururavas in his palace on two conditions: he must promise to watch over herpet goats—in some versions, they are pet sheep—and Urvasi must never seePururavas naked. ----Detailsare already told . In the Rig Veda, Pururavastries to convince Urvasi to stay, but she repeatedly rejects his arguments—a common patternin Vedic “conversation” hymns between mortal men and immortal women (Doniger,Rig Veda 245–46). Urvasi tells of their frequent sex—three times daily—and howshe yielded to him even when she had “no desire” (253). She also reveals thatshe has born him a son, which is news to Pururavas. Pururavasthreatens to kill himself if he cannot have her, but she tells him not to,arguing that good relations are simply impossible with women since they have“the hearts of jackals” (254). The hymn concludes with a narrator’s consoling remark toPururavas that though he is mortal—”a kinsman of death”—his son will make the propersacrifices on earth after Pururavas is in heaven to ensure the well-being ofhis line (255). The resolution is profoundly Vedic, since Vedicculture saw the sacrifice as the key to preserving dharmic world order. In the Bhagavata Purana,Pururavas ends up reunited with Urvasi in heaven, but only after a series oftrials on earth.When the gandharvas’ trick succeeds and Urvasi leaves, He finallycomes on Urvasi at Kurukshetra on the Saraswati River, and the sameconversation from the Rig Veda takes place. Urvasi warns the king thatwomen are “merciless” and, moreover, associated with death (83). They arereunited, but with difficult conditions set, again, by Urvasi: they will sleeptogether only one night each year. Initial “delight” in reunion turns to“affliction” in anticipation of their cyclic separation (83). Pururavaspropitiates the gandharvas for help, and in the forest, they give him a clayfire vessel of a type used for worship. In theory, Pururavas canperform rites with the vessel that will allow him to reach heaven and be withUrvasi forever. In the next line, crazed by grief, he confuses thevessel for Urvasi, but quickly realizes his mistake, returning to the palace ingrief and determined not to “accept a substitute” (83). The story then inserts an ancient Vedic element: thecosmic ages change, the next yuga begins, and “knowledge of the Veda revealsitself in the king’s mind” (Jarow 83). Thus renewed, Pururavas returns to the forest, rubs twosticks together, and chants a mantra: “Pururavas is in the breast of Urvasi”(83). He gains entry toheaven through this fire sacrifice and reunites with Urvasi. End of posting aboutApsaras -Urvashi -- 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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/586581584.2108241.1772346111329%40mail.yahoo.com.
