Pururavas

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Pururavas
Chandravamsha

Pururavas (

Lunar dynasty.[1]

According to the

Pandavas
of Mahābhārata.

Legends

Birth and early life

Pururavas was born in Treta Yuga, as the son of Budha and Ila. Budha was the son of Chandra, the moon god, and thus Pururavas was the first Chandravamsha King. Since he was born on Mount Puru, he was called Pururavas.[3]

Reign

According to the

Pratisthana (Prayaga[4]). He performed a penance to Brahma
and as a reward, he was made the sovereign of the whole earth. Pururavas celebrated a hundred Ashwamedha Yajnas. The asuras were his followers, while the devas were his friends.

According to the

Gandharvas, where he met Urvashi
and fell in love with her. In the Sambhava Parva, Pururavas is said to be intoxicated with his powers, and he quarreled with the Brahmanas.
Sanatkumara came from the region of Brahma
to counsel him. But Pururavas turned deaf ear to the counsel. Angered by this, the sages cursed Pururavas and he was destroyed.

Pururavas and Urvashi

Urvashi and Pururavas, a painting by Raja Ravi Varma

Once, Pururavas, and

apsara, fell in love with each other. Pururavas asked her to become his wife, but she agreed on three or two conditions. The most retold conditions are that Pururavas would protect Urvashi's pet sheep and they would never see one another naked (apart from love making).[5]

Pururavas agreed the conditions and they lived happily. Indra started missing Urvashi and he created circumstances where the conditions were broken. First he sent some gandharvas to kidnap the sheep, when the couple was making love. When Urvashi heard her pets' cries, she scolded Pururavas for not keeping his promise. Hearing her harsh words, Pururavas forgot that he was naked and ran after the sheep. Just then, Indra flashed lightning, and Urvashi saw her husband naked. After the events, Urvashi returned to heaven, and left Pururavas heartbroken. Urvashi descended upon the earth and bore Pururavas many children, but they were not completely reunited.

Descendants

He had six (or seven or eight according to different accounts) sons. The names of these sons are: Ayu (or Ayus), Amavasu,[6] Vishvayu, Shrutayu, Shatayu (or Satayu), and Dridhayu. Nahusha, the son of Ayu, is a well-known name in the Rigveda.[7]

Narrative of Urvashi and Purūravas

The earlier version of the narrative of Urvashi and Pururavas is found in the Rigveda (X.95.1–18) and the

Bhāgavata Purāṇa
.

Vedic literature

The Ṛg-veda, X.129 contains a conversational fragment, written in a highly wrought poetic style. The hymn suggests that Uṣas (also known as Urvaśi) is a Gandharvi or Apsara (a heavenly nymph). Having been united with a human king, Purūravas, and after living together for four autumns, suddenly left him on his unintentional violation of the stipulated conditions of the union. Later Purūravas made futile entreaties to her to return to him.[8]

The narrative displays multiple levels of symbolism by playing on the multiplicity of meanings in the Vedic Saṃskṛta terms. While it is a love poem, expressing the conflict of interest between a lover and his beloved, who spurns his love, it also expresses the immortal relationship between the Sun (Purūravas) and the Dawn (Uṣas). In addition to these two levels of meaning, it also offers mantric prescriptions for a ritual activity bent on taking rebirth as a Gandharva or Apsaras.

Later Literature

The love story of king Pururavas and celestial nymph

Sanskrit drama, Vikramōrvaśīyam, written by the poet Kalidasa. The story is more dramatized like the addition of Pururavas another wife and with variations from the original story.[9]

Gudipati Venkata Chalam has authored the drama Purūravä, which has gained critical acclaim with the Telugu
audience. This drama has been modernized in Purūravä, an animated version of the drama released in Amazon Prime in US and UK.

Notes

  1. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (15 April 2015). "Genealogy of the princes of the lunar race [Chapter CXXXIX]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  2. ISBN 81-7276-413-8
    , p.57
  3. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (13 July 2015). "Pururavas, Purūravas: 9 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  4. ^ Wilson, H.H. (1840). The Vishnu Purana, Book IV, Chapter I, footnote 7.
  5. ^ Tanvi, J (25 May 2017). "The Tragic Love Story Of Urvashi, An Apsara, And King Pururavas, A Mortal". Blush.[self-published source?]
  6. ^ Pargiter, F.E. (1972). Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 85–6.
  7. ISBN 81-7276-413-8
    , pp.59–61
  8. ^
    ISBN 81-85843-03-1
    , pp.229–30, 230ff
  9. ^ Kalidasa; Pandit, Shankar Pandurang (1879). The Vikramorvasîyam, a drama in 5 acts. University of California Libraries. Bombay, Government Central Book Depôt.

References

  • A Dictionary of Hindu Mythology & Religion by John Dowson

Further reading

  • Media related to Pururavas at Wikimedia Commons
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