Vasudevaya namah

Pururava accepted the conditions laid down by Urvashi. He said, “Your enchanting beauty will captivate this human plane. Your expressions and your behaviour cause astonishment. Aha! When a celestial asprasa (maiden) comes on her own accord, which human being will refrain from accepting her?”

Urvaśi enabled Purūrava to enjoy that bliss which celestials enjoy. Together with her, Purūrava wandered freely in Nandana vana, Chaitraratha and other celestial gardens belonging to the Devatas. Urvaśi spent many years in his company. The king was completely enchanted by her facial fragrance and lost track of time.

After a very long time passed in this fashion, Indra, the Lord of heaven, was upset that Urvaśi did not return. Addressing the Gandharvas he said, “This assembly of mine lacks lustre in the absence of Urvaśi. Please go and fetch her”.

The Gandharvas came to earth. Using the conditions laid down earlier by Urvaśi to Purūrava, they decided to separate them both. During midnight, they stealthily stole the two lambs which Urvaśi had given to Purūrava for safe custody.

To Urvaśi these two lambs were akin to sons. When theGandharvas were taking them away, these two lambs shrieked loudly. Hearing these screams Urvaśi nagged her husband saying, “How wicked is my husband! He is an eunuch who falsely considers himself to be valourous. Because of trusting him I have fallen. I have lost everything. Thieves have stolen my lambs, which are like my two sons.

This husband of mine walks like a man during the daytime. However at night like a woman he fearfully trembles. For this reason he is still sleeping like a frightened woman”. Using the sharp arrows called spiteful words Urvaśi thus pierced the heart of her husband Purūrava.

Hearing these hurtful words, Purūrava immediately got up. Forgetting that he was dressed inadequately, he took up the sword and rushed to save the two lambs. He ran in the direction taken by the thieves.

Seeing him, the Gandharvas released the lambs but then caused a great lightning. In haste Purūrava carried the two lambs and began to return. By then Urvaśi arrived at that spot and in the brightness caused by the lightning, noticed that her husband was naked. She immediately left him.

Holding the two lambs Purūrava rushed to the room. When he could not spot Urvaśi on her bed, he completely lost his mental stability. He was agitated beyond reasoning. He grieved pathetically. Like a mad, diseased man, he began to wander across earth with his thoughts solely fixed upon Urvaśi.

As he was thus wandering he reached Kurukshetra. Here on the banks of River Saraswati he saw Urvaśi who was accompanied by four attendants. All of them were laughing merrily. Addressing Urvaśi, he said,

“My dearest! Please get up. Please get up. Please shower happiness upon me. Is it right on your part to throw me into this unbearable pain called separation and go away? Come, let us talk.

O devi! You have discarded this beautiful body of mine and gone away. Begging for your blessings this body has now fallen here. May foxes and vultures eat away my body which has become useless due to your rejection? Let it become food for foxes and vultures”.

Urvaśi addressed him and said, “You should not die, After all, you are a man. These senses are comparable to foxes. May these foxes called senses never swallow you! O King, learn to conquer the senses. I will explain to you about women. Listen. Their love towards any person will never be stable. Like sly foxes their hearts are sly. They are callous. They lack patience. To obtain an object of their desire they are willing to go any lengths. For fulfilment of trivial desires, they are willing to harm their brother or husband. Is there any specific necessity to say that they do not care for others?

Some wicked women pretentiously earn the trust of the foolish man. Thereafter discarding him they chase newer men. They behave per their whims and fancies.

O Emperor Purūrava! You are an extremely competent king. After end of one year you will be able to spend time with me for one night. You will be blessed with children”. She thus pacified Purūrava.

Purūrava was pleased to know that Urvaśi was pregnant. He happily returned to his palace. At the end of one year he went back to Kurukshetra to meet Urvaśi. By then she had delivered a heroic son. He spent that night happily in Kurukshetra. When she was about to leave him the next morning, he was miserable. She then addressed the king and said,

“O King! Please pray to these Gandharvas. They will hand me over to you”. Purūrava diligently worshipped these Gandharvas. Pleased with him, they gifted him a vessel in which fire could be invoked. By this, they indicated to him that he should use homa as a means to obtain heaven.

However Purūrava believed this vessel to be Urvaśi. When he realized that it was a mere vessel, he took it to the forest and discarded it there. He then returned home and was once again lost in thoughts about Urvaśi.

By then Treta-yuga set in. The hymns from Ŗk, Yajur and Sāma veda which explained about Vedic rituals and fruitive actions manifested clearly in his heart. He immediately rushed to the spot where he had left the vessel for invoking fire (agni pātra). There he saw a banyan tree that had emerged before a Shami tree. He broke a branch from the tree and from it shaped two sticks to create fire.

Desiring to reach the same plane where Urvaśi resides, he then arranged the bottom stick to represent Urvaśi, the top stick to represent himself and the wood between them to represent their son. He then chanted appropriate mantras to ignite the fire while rubbing the pieces of wood. Due to the friction caused, fire was born. By worshipping fire a human being will be blessed with all forms of prosperity.

Narayanaya namah