There is quite a lot of difference between the story narrated above and the version that occurs in the Kathāsaritsāgara[1]. According to the Kathāsaritsāgara, Purūrava once spots Urvaśī in the Nandana-vana and falls in love with her. Bhagavān Viṣṇu, who understands Purūrava’s heart, instructs Indra to send Urvaśī to him. Purūrava brings her to his hometown and spends many days in conjugal bliss. Once, he helps Indra in his battle against the asuras; the devas are victorious with Purūrava’s help and celebrate a vijayotsava – a ceremony of victory. Purūrava enjoys the dance of the apsarās as a part of the event. Rambhā errs a bit in her performance of dance and Purūrava laughs at her fault. The apsarā gets angry and admonishes him with the words, “You are a mere human! How will you even understand this art of the divine!” In response, Purūrava said, “I know the apsarā Urvaśī very well. I suppose even your ācārya Tumburu does not know as much as I do!” Upon hearing this, Tumburu cursed Purūrava that he would be separated from Urvaśī until he underwent prāyaścitta and worshipped Bhagavān Śrī-kṛṣṇa. Later, one day, Urvaśī is abducted by the gandharvas; Purūrava then prayed to Hari, won his heart, and got back Urvaśī. He enjoyed heavenly pleasures on earth, in her company.
In the version of the story that appears in the Mastya-purāṇa, we hear that Purūrava had once rescued Urvaśī and her friend Citralekhā from the clutches of the rākṣasa Keśī and handed them back to the safe custody of Indra. From that day on wards, friendship grew between Indra and Purūrava. Once, Sage Bharata had organized a theatrical presentation on the theme of Lakṣmī-svayaṃvara. Urvaśī, Rambhā, and Menakā played character roles in the presentation. Urvaśī, who was performing Lakṣmī’s role got excited looking at Purūrava and forgot the abhinaya that Bharata-muni had taught her. Bharata, who was enraged, cursed her to live as a creeper for fifty-five years on earth; he also cursed that Purūrava would turn into a piśāca. Urvaśī thus comes down to the earth and after the period of the curse elapses, she gives birth to Āyu and other seven children.
There occurs a sub-story in the pīṭhikā of this story. According to the story, dharma, artha, and kāma once went to Purūrava; he paid more respect to dharma and thus, the other two got annoyed. Artha cursed him that he would suffer due to greed; kāma, similarly curses him that he will suffer pain of separation from his beloved in the Kumārava-vana on the Gandha-mādana Mountain. Dharma, however, blesses him that he would live a long life of righteousness.
The story in the Mastya-purāṇa bears a lot of semblance with that of the play Vikramorvaśīyam. However, there is no evidence to show that Kālidāsa drew material for his play from this purāṇa. We don’t know when the Mastya-purāṇa was composed. There are quite a number of interpolations even in the ancient purāṇas. Therefore, it is hard to say what part of the purāṇa got composed in what period. Though the episodes connected with kindling Agni and the upāsana of Viṣṇu are missing the play, it appears like the play has drawn different episodes from the various versions of the story. Pratiṣṭhāna-nagara is mentioned in the Vedas. The Kathāsaritsāgara tells us that Purūrava helped Indra fight the asuras. However, we cannot say that the playwright had actually gone through these sources and strung them together in his play. We can only say that he had these stories in his mind and consciously put them all together in the Vikramorvaśīyam; he has made quite a few changes, especially in connection with the plot and the characters. These add to the love story of Purūrava and Urvaśī.
In the play, Purūrava and Urvaśī first get to know each other due to the curse of Mitrāvaruṇa and not after Urvaśī is fallen from the svarga. Urvaśī, while returning from Kubera’s abode is helped by Purūrava and happens to witness his handsome features as well as his valorous deeds. She does not insist that she should be fed ghee at all times, nor does she ask him to look after sheep; she does not bear any flavour of her Vedic origin in the play. Instead, the poet has imagined the birth of a son as the limit to their association with each other. The vidūṣaka indicates a reason behind Urvaśī keeping away her son from Purūrava’s sight in the ṛṣyāśrama. Though it might seem like the words spoken by vidūṣaka in this current context is merely a taunt, his statement is not devoid of truth. Nevertheless, the poet has beautifully delineated Purūrava’s union with Urvaśī in the first act and with his son in the last act; this adds to the play’s charm. Though it is not nice of a mother to leave her child in a ṛṣyāśrama far away, we may argue that Urvaśī did so out of her intense love for Purūrava. Didn’t Kuntī also let go of Karṇa on the waters of Gaṅgā? Vidūṣaka, who is on the king’s side and Nipuṇikā, the queen’s maid are characters created by the playwright. Though the queen was disgruntled at first, she attempts to gain the good will of her husband by performing the rohiṇī-candra-pūjā; Purūrava is pleased with her and she ensures that there are no obstacles for his joy. She behaves like a kula-vadhū – a noble family woman; it seems as though she goes away into the antaḥpura and remains calm and silent there, after ensuring that all is well with her husband’s endeavours. In contrast to this mature love of the gṛhasthāśrama, we see Urvaśī’s craving for Purūrava, who cannot tolerate any other woman eying him or him showing interest in anyone else; she is endowed with divine beauty and comes to Purūrava of her own accord. She is passionate in her love and isn’t bashful or scared like Mālavikā; Urvaśī is fearless and a bold woman. Purūrava, who is caught in the noose of her love, and suffers from the pain of separation from his beloved. In fact, at times, this kind of attachment and craving ends in separation and lifelong sorrow. Purūrava forgets his responsibility of his kingdom and treasury and enjoys romantic moments with Urvaśī on the Gandhamādana Mountain; when she is about to depart to svarga, she even suggests that Purūrava could follow her but he does not accept the proposal; he declares that he will retire to the forest – this behaviour of his, in fact, does not go well with the passionate love that he had towards Urvaśī. However, we must keep in mind that their love was divinely ordained; Purūrava hears a divine incorporeal voice and lays his hand on the saṅgamanīya-maṇi, which was gaurī-caraṇa-rāga-sambhava[2]. Thanks to the gem, Urvaśī is freed of her curse and reunites with Purūrava. Thus, he experiences vipralambha three times and finally gets to spend time with his beloved; however, he ends up undergoing separation once again because of the coming of his son. Indra, who is concerned about his own advantage becomes benevolent towards Purūrava; thus, Urvaśī becomes a lifelong companion to Purūrava.
To be continued ...
The current series of articles is an enlarged adaption of Prof. A. R. Krishnasastri's Kannada treatise Saṃskṛta-nāṭaka. They are presented along with additional information and footnotes by Arjun Bharadwaj.
[1] The Kathāsaritsāgara was composed in the centuries after Kālidāsa’s times. However, its source, the Bṛhatkathā is older than Kālidāsa.
[2] Originated/ blessed by the feet of Devī Gaurī (Pārvatī), endowed with love; Śiva and Pārvatī represent the epitome of love and the ideal of a couple in the Indian tradition.
