When Manu, the son of Vivasvat, escaped from the great flood on the Himalaya mountain, he made a sacrifice by throwing some butter and curd from the mountain into the water. From that victim arose a woman named Ila, who called herself the daughter of Manu. Then Manu sneezed, and from his sneeze a son named Ikshvaku was born, then eight more sons were born to Manu. From Ikshvaku came the kings of the Solar clan who ruled in the East.
Budha, the son of Soma, the moon god, married Ila, the daughter of Manu, and they had a son, Pururavas, the first of the kings of the Moon family who ruled the countries of the West. Pururavas was a powerful and just king, he ruled over many vast countries, as well as islands in the ocean, and in his virtues he was equal to the gods.
It is said that one day he was visited by Desire, Profit and Virtue. He received all three with honor, but he showed the highest respect to Virtue. Offended by Desire and Benefit, they cursed Pururavas. Desire predicted his separation from his beloved, and Benefit predicted the king's death from excessive self-interest. But Virtue softened these curses, destining for him a long life, and for his descendants power over the earth.
At that time, Apsara Urvashi, the most beautiful of the heavenly maidens, descended to earth, leaving the abode of the gods and Gandharvas. Once Mitra and Varupa, the eldest sons of Aditi, saw her in heaven, in the divine grove of Nandana, and their hearts were inflamed with passion. The mighty Mitra, the god of daylight, the brave conqueror of the asuras, took Urvashi as his wife. But her heart lay with Varuna. She gave birth to two sons - the great sages Agastya and Vasishtha, but who was their father - Mitra or Varuna - was not known to the gods. When Mitra learned of Urvashi's betrayal, he expelled her from heaven and cursed her, predicting that she was destined to become the wife of a mortal and live with him on earth, among people.
In the mortal world, Urvashi met Pururavas, and when she saw him, she forgot about the heavenly palaces and loved him with all her heart. And King Pururavas fell in love with the divine maiden, enchanted by her wondrous beauty, and he asked her to become his wife.
“I agree,” Urvashi answered the king. “But promise me that you will fulfill my two conditions.” “What are these conditions?” - asked the king. Urvashi said: “I have two lambs that are dear to me, like my own children. Let them always be next to my bed, and you promise to protect them. And also promise that you will never appear naked in front of me.” And Pururavas happily agreed to both conditions. So the heavenly maiden became the wife of a mortal.
They lived happily for many years, and Pururavasa's love for the beautiful Urvashi increased every day, and her love for him also grew, and she did not at all remember the time when she lived among the immortals in heaven. But for the Gandharvas and Apsaras, their heavenly abode lost its charm without Urvashi, and they yearned for her. Vishvavasu, the ruler of the Gandharvas, descended to earth from heaven to bring Urvashi back.
Knowing the agreement of Pururavas and Urvashi, Visvavasu entered their bedchamber one night and grabbed one of the lambs. Urvashi woke up and screamed when she discovered that she was missing. “Where is my husband? Who should I ask for help? - she lamented sadly. But Pururavas, not daring to appear naked before her, did not rise from his bed in time, and the kidnapper disappeared along with the lamb. Urvashi reproached Pururavas, exclaiming: “A woman married to a coward has no protector!”
The next night the Gandharvas carried away the second lamb.
This time Pururavas immediately jumped up from the bed, hoping that his wife would not see his nakedness in the darkness, and, grabbing a sword, rushed after the kidnappers. Then the Gandharvas illuminated him with a flash of lightning, and Urvashi saw her husband naked. The Gandharvas, leaving the lambs, retired to their heavenly abode.
When Pururavas returned with the lambs, he saw that Urvashi had disappeared. Inconsolable, he began to wander around the world in search of his beloved. He wandered for a long time, like a madman, bitterly mourning his loss; finally, having traveled around many countries, he came to Kurukshetra. There he saw a lake covered with lotuses, on which swans swam. They were apsaras in the form of swans, and among them was Urvashi. When she saw him, she said to her friends: “This is the man I loved.” “Let’s show ourselves to him,” said the apsaras, and they appeared before Pururavas in their true appearance as celestial maidens.
Then he called to Urvashi: “O my wife, hard-hearted, do not go away, talk to me! If unsaid remains between us, there will be no joy for us in the days to come.” - “What should I talk to you about? - Urva-shi objected. “I left like the first ray of dawn.” Come home, Pururavas! I am like the wind that cannot be stopped.” Pururavas prayed to her in vain; in despair, he promised that he would give up his life if she did not return, throw himself off the cliff, and give his body to be devoured by wild wolves. “Don’t die, Pururavas,” said Urvashi, “don’t throw yourself off the cliff. Know that there can be no friendship with women, their hearts are merciless.” But still she felt sorry for him, and she said: “This same day, in a year, come here again. By that time our son, whom I carry in my womb, will be born.”
And when a year had passed, he came there again. And in the place where there was a lake, he saw a golden palace. Urvashi came out of the palace to him and said: “I will stay with you this night, and tomorrow the Gandharvas will offer you to fulfill one wish of your choice. Then you will say: “I want to become one of yours!”
And Pururavas did as Urvashi told him. “There is nothing on earth that I could desire and that would not be available to me,” he told the Gandharvas. “My only desire is to be where Urvashi is, not to be separated from her.” The Gandharvas gave him a brazier with fire and said: “Go into the forest and there divide this fire into three fires; With the thought of Urvashi, pour a sacrificial libation on the fire, and your desire will be fulfilled.” Pururavas took the fire and went with it into the forest. But there he was overcome by doubt:
“The crazy man took this brazier with him instead of his wife. The Gandharvas have deceived me." And, leaving the brazier in the forest, he returned to his palace. In the middle of the night he woke up and thought: “It was in vain that I did not listen to the Gandharvas; after all, they promised to fulfill my wish! He got up from his bed and went into that forest again, but the brazier was no longer there, and in its place two trees grew - shami and aswattha. Pururavas plucked a branch from each tree, returned to the palace and there, rubbing them one against the other, produced the sacred fire. Pururavas was the first mortal to establish three sacred fires: ogosh, for household rituals, fire for general sacrifices, and fire for libations.
By this rite, Pururavas acquired the nature of a Gandharva and was able to unite again with his beloved Urvashi. But they say that in his declining years, proud of his power, he encroached on the property of the Brahmins and, cursed by angry sages, died, as was predicted for him, due to excessive self-interest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru