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Urvashi

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For other uses, see Urvashi (disambiguation).
Urvashi
Urvashi
Urvashi leaving her husband Pururavas, a chromolithograph by Raja Ravi Varma
Devanagariउर्वशी
AffiliationApsara
AbodeAmaravati, Svarga
GenderFemale
Personal information
SpousePururavas
Children
DynastyChandravamsha (by marriage)

Urvashi (Sanskrit: उर्वशी, romanized: Urvaśī) is an apsara (celestial nymph) in Hinduism. She is considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras,[1][2] and an expert dancer. Urvashi is mentioned in many Vedic and Puranic scriptures of .

Etymology

The Sanskrit name "Urvaśī" can have multiple meanings. It is derived from roots—uru and aś.[3] Some believe that the name has a non-Aryan origin.[4]

According to the scripture Devi Bhagavata Purana, the apsara is known as Urvashi because she is born from the uru—'thigh'—of the divine-sage Narayana.[5] Indologist Monier Monier-Williams proposes a different etymology in which the name means 'widely pervasive' and he suggests that in its first appearances in Vedic texts Urvashi was a personification of dawn.[3]

Textual sources

Urvashi is the only apsara to be specially named in the Rigveda (c. 1500–1100 BCE). A dialogue between her and her husband Pururavas is mentioned in Rigveda Mandala 10. In the dialogue, Pururavas requests Urvashi not to leave him.[6][7][8] The legend of Urvashi is retold and expanded in many later Hindu scriptures, including the Shatapatha Brahmana, Brihaddevata, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Harivamsa, Vayu Purana, Vishnu Purana, Matsya Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Padma Purana and Skanda Purana.[7][5][9]

Urvashi has been dramatized and adapted by many poets and authors. Among these, the most popular one is the Vikramorvashiyam by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa (fl. 4th–5th century CE). The drama depicts the love of Urvashi and Pururavas.[9][7] Indian author and freedom fighter Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) has also written a poem about Urvashi.[10][11]

Legends

Birth

A relief depicting Narayana (left) and Nara (right), Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh, ca. 5th century CE

Urvashi's birth is narrated in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana. In the legend, the brothers Nara and Narayana are performing penance to please the creator god Brahma, but this makes Indra (the king of the devas) insecure about his throne and he does not want the sage to acquire divine powers. As a result, he creates multiple illusions to break their penance, but all of his tricks fail. Finally, he orders the apsaras of his court, including Rambha, Menaka, and Tilottama, to go to Nara-Narayana and distract them through seduction.[12]

Accompanied by the god of love, Kama, and his consort, Rati, the apsaras go to Nara-Narayana, and start to dance seductively in front of them. However, the sages remain unaffected by this and decide to break the pride of the apsaras. Narayana slaps his thigh, from which Urvashi emerges. Her beauty leaves Indra's apsaras matchless, and they become ashamed of their evil act. Nara and Narayana assure Indra that they would not take his throne, and gift Urvashi to him. She occupies the place of pride in Indra’s court.[13][14][12]

Birth of Vasishtha and Agastya

Urvashi is said to be the "mother" of the Vedic sages—Vasishtha and Agastya. It is narrated in the Rigveda that the gods Varuna and Mitra once perform a yajna (fire-sacrifice), when Urvashi arrives in front of them. After seeing her, they become sexually aroused and ejaculate their semen into a pitcher from which Vasishtha and Agastya are born. Similar accounts of this story appear in the Brihaddevata, Matsya Purana, and other scriptures.[15][16]

In later Hindu texts, Vashishtha is described as a Manasputra (mind-created son) of the god Brahma, who takes rebirth through Urvashi and Mitra-Varuna. The Ramayana and Mahabharata narrate that after Vashishtha dies due to the curse of king Nimi, his spirit is told by Brahma that he won't be reborn from a womb and is instructed to enter inside the body of Mitra-Varuna (combined form of Mitra and Varuna). When Mitra-Varuna sees Urvashi, they separate themselves into two bodies. Varuna desires to have a union with Urvashi and approaches her with his wish. However, she rejects it as she had already promised Mitra a union, leading Varuna to ejaculate inside a celestial pot, which was created by Brahma. Seeing the sight, Urvashi is filled with remorse and passion, causing Mitra's seed to fall from her womb. It is then transferred into the same pot containing Varuna's seed. Vashishtha is reborn from it. Along with him, Agastya is also born.[17][18] The Devi Bhagavata Purana retells the story and adds that after the birth of Vasishtha and Agastya, Mitra curses Urvashi to live as a wife of a mortal man.[12][16]

As Pururavas's wife

Once Urvashi and Pururavas, the founder of the Chandravamsha (Lunar) dynasty, fell in love with each other. Pururavas asked her to become his wife, but she only agreed on three conditions. The most retold conditions are that Pururavas would protect Urvashi's pet sheep, that he would never force her to consume anything but ghee, and they would never see one another naked (apart from lovemaking).[19]

Pururavas agreed to these conditions, and they lived happily. Indra started missing Urvashi, and so he created circumstances where the conditions were broken. First, he sent some gandharvas to kidnap the sheep, while 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 would descend upon the earth and bore Pururavas many children, but they were not completely reunited.[20]

Their love story is found in the Rigveda[21] and Shatapatha Brahmana too. Kalidasa's drama Vikramōrvaśīyam is about their love story with variations from the original texts.[22]

Other legends

Arjuna refusing Urvashi's advances, a print by B P Banerjee.

In some texts, Urvashi is said to have caused the birth of the sage Rishyashringa. In the Mahabharata, Urvashi is enjoying herself on the banks of a river, when Vibhandaka, son of Kashyapa, sees her. He becomes enchanted by her beauty and has seminal emission. His semen comes in contact with a doe (a cursed apsara in some versions) which impregnates her and she later gives birth to Rishyashringa.[12]

She is also mentioned in the Mahabharata, as the celestial dancer of Indra's palace. When Arjuna had come for obtaining weapons from his father Indra, his eyes fell upon Urvaśī. Indra, seeing this, sent Chitrasena to ask Urvashi to wait upon Arjuna. Hearing the virtues of Arjuna, Urvashi was filled with desire. At twilight, she reached Arjuna's residence. As soon as Arjuna saw the apsara at night in his chamber adorned in beautiful attire, he saluted her with closed eyes, out of respect and shyness. She told Arjuna of her heart's desire, though the latter jilted her advances, considering her to be an ancestor of his, as well as a mother, because of her past marriage to Pururavas. Enraged, she cursed Arjuna to be destitute of his manhood, and to be scorned as a eunuch for a period of one year. This curse later helped Arjuna during his Agyatvās (incognito exile).[23]

Notes

References

  1. ^ Eck, Diana L. (27 March 2012). India: A Sacred Geography. Harmony/Rodale. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-385-53191-7.
  2. ^ Gupta, Shakti M. (2002). Indian Mythology: Myths and Legends. B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 133. ISBN 978-81-7646-276-1.
  3. ^ a b Monier-Williams, Sir Monier; Leumann, Ernst; Cappeller, Carl (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House. pp. 218, 637. ISBN 978-81-208-3105-6.
  4. ^ Jamanadas, K. (2007). Devadasis: Ancient to Modern. Kalpaz Publications. ISBN 978-81-7835-547-4.
  5. ^ a b Vemsani, Lavanya (2021). "Urvashi: Celestial Women and Earthly Heroes". Feminine Journeys of the Mahabharata. pp. 229–241. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-73165-6_12. ISBN 978-3-030-73164-9. S2CID 236730753.
  6. ^ Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (2006). Woman in Indian Sculpture. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-474-5.
  7. ^ a b c 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. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00131983. JSTOR 25203565. S2CID 162234818.
  8. ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (20 January 2019). "Three Vedic women". Mumbai Mirror.
  9. ^ a b Kantawala, S. G. (1976). "Purūravas-Urvaśī Episode: A Study in Vedico-Purāṇic Correlates". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 57 (1/4): 49–58. JSTOR 41692233.
  10. ^ Dalal, Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
  11. ^ George, K. M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
  12. ^ a b c d Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Robarts - University of Toronto. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass. p. 811.
  13. ^ "Birth of Urvashi - Indian Mythology". www.apamnapat.com. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  14. ^ The Goddess in India: The Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine By Devdutt Pattanaik, Published 2000, Inner Traditions / Bear & Company, 176 pages, ISBN 0-89281-807-7 p.66
  15. ^ Patton, Laurie L. (14 May 2014). Myth as Argument: The Brhaddevata as Canonical Commentary. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-081275-6.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Obbink, Hendrik Willem. Orientalia Rheno-traiectina. Brill Archive.
  18. ^ Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Robarts - University of Toronto. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass. p. 5.
  19. ^ "Blush.me". Blush. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  20. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (28 January 2019). "Story of Urvaśī". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  21. ^ Kulasrestha, Mahendra (2006). The Golden Book of Rigveda. Lotus Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-81-8382-010-3.
  22. ^ Kalidasa; Pandit, Shankar Pandurang (1879). The Vikramorvasîyam, a drama in 5 acts. University of California Libraries. Bombay, Government Central Book Depôt.
  23. ^ "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. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00131983. JSTOR 25203565. 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. ISBN 978-0-8147-5268-5. 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. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00132033. JSTOR 612386. 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. ISBN 978-1-4744-0021-3. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt16r0jdk.9.

External links

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