Ilā and Sudyumna

Ilā was the eldest child of Vaivasvata Manu. Ilā was born a girl, was changed into a boy named Sudyumna, and later became a woman again after entering the grove of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Umā. Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī then gave Sudyumna a settled rule: one month as a woman, one month as a man. From the union of Ilā and Budha came Purūravas, the first king of the Lunar line.

The birth of Ilā

Vaivasvata Manu performed a putra-kāmeshṭi (a yajña done to gain a son). The rite was led by Vasishṭha and Mitra-Varuṇa. Through some difference in the way the rite was done, the priests turned the mantra, without meaning to, towards a female birth. The child born was a daughter named Ilā.

Manu and Vasishṭha prayed to the divine powers to change Ilā into a son. This was granted. Ilā became Sudyumna, in a male form.

The grove of Śiva and Umā

One day Sudyumna was hunting in the forest. He entered a holy grove called the Śaravana, the forest of Bhagavān Śiva and Umā (Pārvatī). The presence of the divine pair had made the grove holy, and a special decree held there: any male who entered it was at once changed into a woman.

Sudyumna went in without knowing this and was changed at once into a woman, Ilā again. All the men and horses of his hunting party were changed in the same way.

The change between woman and man

Ilā was now a woman with a party of women. She wandered in the forest and met Budha, the son of Soma (Candra), who was doing tapas (austerity) in that place. Budha was taken by her beauty. From their union a son was born, Purūravas. He would become the father of the line of earth-ruling kings of the Lunar dynasty.

Meanwhile Vasishṭha and the other ṛshis prayed to Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī on behalf of Sudyumna. Together Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī gave a part remedy. Sudyumna would change back and forth: one month a woman (Ilā), the next month a man (Sudyumna). The śāpa could not be fully undone, but its effect was shared between the two forms.

Sudyumna’s reign and sons

In his months as Sudyumna, the king ruled his kingdom. He had three sons, born in his male months: Utkala, Gaya and Vimala. The three became founders of regional kingdoms. Utkala founded the region of Utkala (Oḍiśā). Gaya ruled at Gayā-kshetra. Vimala made his own territory.

When he had done his royal duty by having heirs, Sudyumna gave up the throne to Purūravas and went to live in the forest.

Purūravas and the Candra vaṃśa

Purūravas was born from the union of Ilā and Budha. He was the founder of the earthly line of the Candra vaṃśa (the Lunar line). He was a king of great splendour. His love for the apsarā Urvaśī is one of the best known in the Purāṇic tradition.

The whole Aila (Lunar) dynasty comes down through Purūravas. It includes Nahusha, Yayāti, the Pāṇḍavas, the Kauravas, and in the end the Yādava line of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

Sources

• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 60