Urvashi
Urvashi | |
---|---|
Devanagari | उर्वशी |
Affiliation | Apsara |
Abode | Svarga |
Gender | Female |
Personal information | |
Spouse | Pururavas |
Children | |
Dynasty | Chandravamsha (by marriage) |
Urvashi (
. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer.Urvashi has been featured in many
Etymology
The
Literary background
Urvashi is the apsara to be specially named in the
Urvashi has been dramatized and adapted by many poets and authors. Among these, the most popular one is the play
Mythology
Birth
In Hindu mythology, Urvashi sprang from the divine-sage
Birth of Vasishtha and Agastya
Urvashi plays a significant role in the birth of the
In later Hindu texts, unlike the Vedas, Vashishtha is described as a
Wife of Pururavas
The most prominent myth featuring Urvashi is about her marriage to Pururavas, a mortal king who is credited as the founder of Chandravamsha (lit. 'lunar dynasty'), a legendary dynasty in ancient India. The myth is first narrated in the Rigveda, where it is presented in the form of dialogue between them. The Vedic hymn suggest that she has left her husband Pururavas after living for four years with him. The king beseeches her to return, but she harshly refuses, complaining that he made too much love with her. She advises him to do good deeds to ascend to heaven and reunite with her.[21] The context for this scene is provided in subsequent texts.[7] Scholars note that while in Rigveda Urvashi is portrayed as being a self-willed and unyielding woman who married Pururavas for her own desire and abandons him after giving birth to their son, the later adaptations mark her for her love for Pururavas and blame the celestial beings for their separation.[22][23]
The Post-Vedic texts attest that Urvashi falls in love with handsome and heroic Pururavas and the latter also reciprocates his feelings for her. After Urvashi is cursed to descend on the Earth and become the wife of a mortal, she marries Pururavas on some conditions, with the most important being that he would never appear naked before her apart from during coitus.
Other legends
In the Vayu Purana, the sage Agastya once arrives in Indra's court and is welcomed by a dance performance of Urvashi. In the performance, Urvashi and Jayanta, the son of Indra, look into each other's eyes in love. The distracted Urvashi misses a beat, and the dance goes haywire. Due to this, Jayanta is cursed to be born as bamboo, and Urvashi is cursed to take birth on Earth as a woman named Madhavi.[15]
Urvashi is said to have caused the birth of the sage
Another tale featuring Urvashi and a mortal prince is found in the Mahabharata.[d] Arjuna, a prince belonging to Chandravamsha and the spiritual son of Indra, comes to heaven to learn under Gandharva Chitrasena. Urvashi becomes attracted to him and reaches Arjuna's residence adorned in beautiful attire. She tells him about her desire, but the latter jilts her advances, considering her to be an ancestor of his, as well as a mother, because of her past marriage to Pururavas. Urvashi tries to convince him to accept her by telling that Apsaras are free and unconfined in their choice, and they can sport with any man they wish. Arjuna still refuses and an enraged Urvashi curses him to be destitute of his manhood and to be scorned as a eunuch for one year. Indra later pacifies Arjuna that the curse would be beneficial for him during his Agyatavasa (incognito exile).[15][26]
See also
Notes
- ^ In the epic Mahabharata, the names of the sons of Pururavas are Ayus, Dhimat, Amavasu and Dhridhayus, and Vanayus, and Satayus.
- ^ In the Shatapatha Brahmana, Urvashi lays down two conditions that Pururavas would make love with her regularly, but only when she consented, and he would never appear naked in front of her.[21] In the Puranas, three conditions are mentioned—Pururavas would never appear naked in front of her, he would protect her two pet sheep and she would only consume ghee (clarified butter).[15]
- ^ According to Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana, the marriage was due to the curse of Mitra, while in the Devi Bhagavata Purana the curse is attributed to Brahma.
- ^ This tale is excluded in the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata and has been regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic.[25]
References
- ISBN 978-0-385-53191-7.
- ISBN 978-81-7646-276-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-3105-6.
- ^ S2CID 236730753.
- ISBN 978-81-7835-547-4.
- ISBN 978-81-7017-474-5.
- ^ S2CID 162234818.
- ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (20 January 2019). "Three Vedic women". Mumbai Mirror.
- ^ JSTOR 41692233.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7914-1382-1.
- ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
- ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
- ^ "Birth of Urvashi - Indian Mythology". www.apamnapat.com. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ISBN 0-89281-807-7p.66
- ^ ISBN 9780842608220.
- ISBN 978-3-11-081275-6.
- ^ a b
Goodman, Hananya (1 February 2012). Between Jerusalem and Benares: Comparative Studies in Judaism and Hinduism. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-0437-0.
- ^ Shastri, Hari Prasad (1952). Ramayana of Valmiki, Uttara Kanda, Chapter 56 [The Cursing of the Nymph Urvashi].
- ^ Obbink, Hendrik Willem. Orientalia Rheno-traiectina. Brill Archive.
- ISBN 9780842608220.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8147-5100-8.
- JSTOR 42930212.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-959334-7.
- ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section LXXV".
- ^ M. A. Mehendale (1 January 2001). Interpolations In The Mahabharata. pp. 200–201.
- ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Indralokagamana Parva: Section XLVI". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
Bibliography
- Dowson, John. A Dictionary of Hindu Mythology & Religion.
- The Sri Mad Devi Bhagavatam: Books One Through Twelve 1923. Kessinger Publishing. 2004. ISBN 978-0-7661-8167-0.
Further reading
- Gaur, R. C. (1974). "The Legend of Purūravas and Urvaśī: An Interpretation". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 106 (2): 142–152. S2CID 162234818.
- Leavy, Barbara Fass (1994). "Urvaśī and the Swan Maidens: The Runaway Wife". In Search of the Swan Maiden. NYU Press. pp. 33–63. JSTOR j.ctt9qg995.5.
- Wright, J. C. (1967). "Purūravas and Urvaśī". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 30 (3): 526–547. S2CID 162788253.
- Teverson, Andrew; Warwick, Alexandra; Wilson, Leigh, eds. (2015). "'Cupid, Psyche, and the "Sun-Frog"', Custom and Myth: (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1884)". The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Selected Writings of Andrew Lang, Volume 1: Anthropology, Fairy Tale, Folklore, The Origins of Religion, Psychical Research. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 66–78. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt16r0jdk.9.