VIKRAMORVASEEYAM Dear friends,
When I read the legend of Urvashiand Pururavas is Vikramrvaseeyam by Kalidasa in later days, it came to my recollectionthat in high school it was taught in “Poet Kalidasa and his works” in the Malayalam class . Mr BalaKrishna Pillai was theteacher. The subject taught with some controlled language was not much understood by front benchers,since it was a love story and our minds were not ready to grasp it with trueunderstanding. He mentionedafter years you would enjoy this better with a smile to the front benchers.Some back benchers joinedhim. He and his parents never talkedcolloquial Malayalam. He told in the class in one context. Today I received a complimentarymail from our esteemed member Sree Narayanasamy iyer about my “Oru Paadakkatha” and its narration style. I am very much honoured when such a very senior and highlyknowledgeable member responds with an appreciation. One such appreciation issufficient for my continuing writing in the groups. Update - About three days back also I received a similarappreciation from him for my posting about Jack fruit and tree. Let me continue withVikramorvaseeyam. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 15-11-2012. Re -written and posted with few additions and deletions. R. Gopala Krishnan1-5-2021. 1. Urvashi strolling to Earth Urvashi found the atmosphere inheaven stifling. Everything was cold and synthetic including the colours andthe fragrances of the flowers. Urvashi on account of this oftenstole to the Earth at night with her friends to feel the wet dew under her feetand the soft breeze against her body. 2. King Pururavas invitee to Indra’s court On the other hand king Pururavas enviedthe Gods. He was a regular invitee to Indra's court and was haunted at night bythe grandeur he saw there. He would then take his chariot above the clouds andhurtle through the skies at break-neck speed. It was on such an occasion thatthe two met. 3. King Purururavas saved Urvasi from demons Urvashi was returning to heavenjust before dawn with the other apsaras, when she was getting abducted by ademon. Pururavas saw this and chased the demon on his chariot and freed Urvashi from his clutches. 4. Development of love between Urvasi and Pururavas The brief period their bodiestouched changed their lives forever. For the first time Urvasi experienced the warm flesh of amortal, for the first time she heard blood pounding in veins and forthe first time she heard the inhalation and exhalation of breath. Pururavas had seen Urvashi inIndra’s court before. Pururavas left Urvashi with her friends but when theyparted each was madly in love with the other but unsure whether the love wasbeing reciprocated. Urvashi was a woman in a man’sworld and in keeping with the tradition of the times expected the man to makethe first move. Pururavas on the other hand feared rejection because he did notexpect the pride of heaven to come and live with a mortal, and hence did notapproach Urvashi. So both pined for each other. Urvashi was giving a danceperformance in which she was portraying Vishnu’s consort, Lakshmi after theincident. Her concentration was with Pururavas and she called out her lover’s name instead of saying“Vishnu”. 5. Sage Bharath curse Urvasi Her natyaguru (teacher), the SAGEBHARATH, got offended and cursedUrvashi. “You will get to live with the person you are thinking about,”he said, “And you will also give birth to his son. But you willhave to choose between the father and son, because the day they see each otheryou will have to leave them both and return to heaven.” 6. Urvasi reaches Pururavas The curse actually emboldenedUrvashi. She wasn’t even thinking about children, she was sure to get her love.She sent a friend to earth to find out about Pururavas. The friend located theking in the garden of Gandhmadan (meaning intoxicating fragrance), whining awayfor his ladylove. The stage was set. Urvashi left heaven and went to thewaiting arms of Pururavas. 7. Uravasi become 2nd wife of Pururavas Pururavas was a married man. Hiswife was Aushiniri. They did not have any children and as was the custom of thetime, the wife was blamed for this. So when Pururavas met Urvashi he wasalready distanced from his wife and hence was more easily drawn towards theapsara. He decided to live with Urvashiin the forest of Gandhmadan. He arranged for all princely comforts there asalso for running the affairs of state. They spent the time in love, indiscourse; Urvashi sang and danced for Pururavas; the king was content to haveher with him. For Urvashi this was a unique opportunity to live with mortalsand to experience their joys and sufferings. In fact the only discordant note in theirethereal music was the argument whether the Gods are more fortunate or mortals. 8. Urvasi leaves Pururavas in anger Once Urvashi and Pururava werewalking along the bank of a stream in animated conversation. Pururavas noticeda maiden knee deep in water washing clothes and for a second his concentration changed.Urvashi went into a fit ofjealous rage and ran away to a grove. 9. Urvasi turns as a creeper So maddened was she that shestepped into Kartikeya's grove. Kartikeya is the God of War and women were forbidden to enter his groveand if they did so they would be turned into a creeper. This was thefate Urvashi met. 10 Pururavas search for Uravasi and pray to get her back For many months Pururavassearched for Urvashi. He prayed to the Gods for their favour. He recounted thenumerous times he had fought shoulder to shoulder with them in their incessantwar against the Demons. Kartikeya relented and gavePururavas a crimson jewel and asked him to rub a particular creeper in hisgrove with it. When the king did so Urvashi was freed. 11. Uravasi joins Pururavas by the relenting of God Karthikeya and liveswith Aushinri in the palace. By now everyone, including Aushiniri had accepted Urvashi as the king'sconsort. There was no need for them to stay at Gandhmadan. The two went to thecapital city of their kingdom and continued to enjoy each other's company asbefore. In all Urvashi and Pururava spent sixteen years together. 12. Missing gem andmeeting son The gem with which Pururavas hadfreed Urvashi in Kartikeya's grove was Urvashi's favourite. One day a ravensnatched it from the hands of Urvashi's maid. Pururava raised his bow butbefore he could fire an arrow someone else hit the bird and it fell into thepalace courtyard. The arrow was retrieved and given to the king. It was the custom thateach arrow bore the name of its owner and this arrow said Ayu the sonof Pururavas and Urvashi. It had so happened that Urvashihad desired to bear a child, so without Pururavas' knowledge she hadconceived and given birth to his son. The incident at Kartikeya's grovewas a play by the Gods to give Urvashi time for bearing the child. Thereason for the secrecy lay in the curse sage Bharat had given Urvashi manyyears earlier. "You will have to choose between your son and your lover, for theday the two meet you will have to return to heaven." The lover in Urvashi had yet not beensatisfied so she had left the new born child in sage Chyavan'shermitage in the care of his wife Satyavati. 13 Sage Chyavana explains about the son Ayu Sage Chyavana explainedeverything to the astounded king. The time had come for Ayu (his son) to meetPururavas, but unfortunately the same time necessitated the departure ofUrvashi. 14. Ayu get crowned as King Pururava crowned Ayu as King and left for Gandhmadan, where he had spentmemorable seasons with the apsara. But the story does not endhere. The Demons attacked Heaven and with Pururava's help the Gods succeeded indriving them away. 15. Pleased Indra allowed Urvasi to live in earth for more time In return Indra allowed Urvashito go back to Gandhmadan where she spent many more years with Pururava and borehim many more sons. This story is captured by Sanskrit poet Kalidasa in his play Vikramōrvaśīyam -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/260641826.1992181.1619884524646%40mail.yahoo.com.
