Ūrvaśī

Ūrvaśī is the most famous of the apsarās (celestial dancers) who live in Svarga. She is linked to the beginning of the Paurava line through her union with the ancient king Purūravas.

In the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata, Ūrvaśī visited Arjuna in Svarga at Indra’s wish. Arjuna refused her because she was an ancestress of his line. She spoke a well-known śāpa (curse), and Indra then turned it into a vara (boon).

Her place and her family line

Ūrvaśī is of the very first rank among the apsarās. They are celestial beings who bring joy and beauty to the divine worlds. They serve in Indra’s court, add grace to the gatherings of the devas and move through the three worlds.

Her best-known link with the human world is Purūravas, a great king of the Lunar dynasty. From his line came the Paurava kings, the Kurus, the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas. Her union with Purūravas is told in the Ṛgveda (10.95), in the Mahābhārata and in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. From this union came Āyu and other sons, who carried on the Paurava line.

This is why Arjuna calls her gurumātā (a mother to be revered). She stands in the place of a grandmother, or ancestress, to all the Pauravas.

Meeting Arjuna in Svarga

While Arjuna stayed in Amarāvatī, the city of Indra, Indra saw that Arjuna had admired Ūrvaśī at one of the gatherings. He called Citrasena and asked him to take a message to Ūrvaśī. The message described Arjuna’s great qualities: his tapas-bala (strength from austerity), his beauty, his courage, his mastery of weapons and the divine favour he had won. Indra said he wished Ūrvaśī to grant Arjuna her company.

Ūrvaśī listened to Citrasena with growing admiration and agreed. She came to Arjuna’s chamber at night, shining in her celestial form. She stood before him and told him openly that she was drawn to him. For an apsarā, such generosity was a natural part of her dharma (duty), and there was no shame in it.

Arjuna’s answer was not what she expected. He did not look at her with desire. He looked at her with deep respect. He closed his eyes, covered his ears, folded his hands and bowed to the ground. He said: “O Ūrvaśī, you are the ancestress of my line. Purūravas was of our Paurava line, and you were his beloved. So you stand as a grandmother to me, a gurumātā. I can only bow before you and regard you as a son would. Please forgive me and go back.”

The curse

The refusal hurt Ūrvaśī sharply. She had come in generosity, and now she had been named an elderly ancestress. That is the last thing an apsarā, whose whole being is youth and beauty, wants to be called. Her pride was wounded and her anger rose.

She spoke a curse: “Because you have refused me and called me ‘mother’, you shall live among women as a napuṁsaka, not fully male in bearing. You shall be a dancer and entertainer among women, serving them with music and dance, for one year.”

Indra turns the curse into a boon

Arjuna went to Indra and told him what had happened. Indra was not upset. He smiled with clear satisfaction and said: “Do not be troubled, my son. Ūrvaśī’s curse is not a misfortune. It is exactly the vara you will need. When your thirteen years of exile are over, you must live one year in complete hiding, known to no one. What better cover than what she has described? You will spend that year among women as a dance teacher, in a disguise that no enemy could see through. The curse will serve its purpose and will end the moment the year is over. Ūrvaśī has given you something precious.”

Arjuna was relieved. He accepted the curse, and it was held back until the ajñātavāsa (the year of hidden living) in King Virāṭa’s court. It served exactly as Indra had said.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 45–46
• Ṛgveda, 10.95 (for the story of Purūravas and Ūrvaśī)
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa (for the story of Purūravas and Ūrvaśī)