There were two great sages in the Treta Yuga: Nara and Narayana. They were brothers, and they were revered by all for their wisdom and warrior skills. Once, the sages decided to start severe penance to please Lord Vishnu. Somehow, Devraj Indra (the King of the Devas) came to know about their austerity. Indra became suspicious. It was a matter of concern for Devraj Indra, as those brothers were already revered sages who had knowledge of the Vedas. They had already achieved the highest level of knowledge. Moreover, in spite of being scholars, they were skilled warriors and were able to use many divine weapons. Indra thought they were probably tired of being hermits and were trying to gain the boon of invincibility to displace Indra from his throne.
With doubt in his mind, he decided to test the sages with the highest level of temptation. He asked for help from Kama Deva, the god of love, and his wife Rati to break their penance. Indra also sent three of his best apsaras (celestial dancers in his court); Ramva, Menaka, and Tilottama, to enchant the sages. As instructed by Devraj, Kama Deva went to Badrinath in the Himalaya, where those sages were doing their tapasya (penance). His presence transformed the weather into spring, with blossoms in the trees, birds singing, and a pleasant breeze carrying the smells of the beautiful flowers.
The sages felt the change in the environment. They opened their eyes and understood everything in a moment. At this time, the apsaras appeared there and were willing to present themselves to the sages. They started to dance and sing to please them, and they asked the sages to join them in love-making. The Kama Deva shot the sages with the arrows of love and temptation from his flower bow. But the arrows were ineffective against them, as they had already achieved enlightenment.
The sages noticed that Indra was hiding behind a tree, watching them. To teach him a lesson and to break the ego of beauty in the apsaras, Sage Narayana placed a pink flower on his thigh and patted it. Soon a woman emerged from his thigh, whose beauty had no bounds. Other apsaras appeared dim in front of her glory. Seeing the beauty of that girl, the apsaras became vexed, and they left the place immediately.
The sage Narayana smiled and called by the name of Indra loudly to come out of his hidden place. As Indra came, Narayana said, "What is bothering you, Lord? We have no intention to take your throne. We are doing penance to get rid of the cycle of birth and death. Go back to your place and concentrate on your own work instead of spying on us. As you sent your apsaras to enchant us, we are giving you this enchanting apsara as a gift. Take her with you. She will adorn your court. As she has been born out of my thigh (uru in Sanskrit), I name her Urvashi."
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| Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay |
Urvashi soon rose to prominence as the most esteemed dancer in Devraj Indra's court. One day, the renowned sage Agastya came to visit Devraj Indra. Devraj invited Urvashi to perform in his honor. Urvashi started her performance with grace, and everyone was enjoying her dance. In the audience, there was Jayanta, the son of Devraj Indra. He was staring at Urvashi with a lustful, spellbound expression. Urvashi noticed that all of a sudden, she lost her focus and missed the rhythm. The dance attendants also saw that, and they laughed loudly together. The entire performance faltered as a result. This infuriated Agasthya, and he immediately exited the court. Devraj became so enraged that he drove Urvashi out of heaven and cursed his own son to be born as a bamboo tree in a forest. Urvashi felt humiliated as well, and she cursed her dance attendants to come down to earth with her as sheep.
At that time, the most powerful king on earth was Chandravanshi ruler Pururava. In addition to his good looks, he was a brave warrior and an ardent scholar. He used to revere the sages and treat his subjects with empathy. Urvashi arrived before the court of Pururava after being compelled to descend from heaven.
She was so attractive that Pururava instantly fell in love and asked her to marry him. Urvashi consented, but with three conditions: first, she would only consume ghee and nothing else; second, she would stay in the same room with her sheep, and the king would protect the sheep from all the harm at any cost; and third, the king would never show his naked body to her. If the king fails to keep his promise, Urvashi will leave him forever and will again gain her place in heaven.
The monarch approved all of those peculiar terms to win over the goddess of beauty. After getting married, they moved in together. They were together for four years. King Pururava almost forgot he was a king since he was so engrossed in making love to her. On the other side, Devraj Indra was also eager to see Urvashi in heaven. So he devised a plan to get her back.
One night, when Pururava and Urvashi were making love, Indra sent some gandharvas to kidnap the sheep. As per the rule, Urvashi should never see the king's naked body. So, the room was completely dark. There was no lamp in the room. Even then, when they were making love, the ships were tied to the bed. The gandharvas crept into the bed chamber to steal the sheep. As they were abducting the sheep away, the sheep started to bleat. Urvashi felt that something was unusual. She told the king that there were some people in the room, and they were surely trying to steal her sheep. But the king was so busy making love that he disregarded her, stating that nobody would dare enter a queen's private chamber.
However, after a while, they both realized that there was a disturbing silence and that the sheep were surely not in the room. Urvashi lost her patience now and started to yell at her husband for not keeping his promise to protect her sheep. Suddenly, they heard a sheep bleating outside one of the windows. Pururava leaped off the bed and flung open the window of the bed chamber to look outside. Devraj was waiting for the moment. Indra instantly threw a bolt of lightning, thus illuminating the entire sky like daylight. Urvashi could clearly see the naked body of her husband in that light. Realizing the trick, Pururava quickly put on a robe to hide his body. But it was too late. He saw that Urvashi had already left for heaven.
The king was so infatuated with her that he began to wail, forgetting his status. He started acting insane and traveled to different parts of the world only to see her once. The once-benevolent king became completely ignorant of his duties. Anarchy eclipsed his whole kingdom. Hearing the news, Urvashi decided to meet the king, and she descended to earth. She chastised her husband, pointing out that he was disobeying his duties as a king. He ought to behave like a king, and she assured him that she would spend one night with him each year.
They spent the night together before she went back to heaven. She returned the following year with a son, whom she handed to Pururava. She gave birth to six children in this manner. They were Ayusha, Amavasu Shrutayusha, Shatayusha, Dridhayusha, and Visvayusha. The famed king Nahusha was the son of Ayusha. Pururava, having been a good monarch for many years, finally died and went to heaven, where he remained in the close proximity of his loved one as a gandharva.
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