Pulomā, Wife of Bhṛgu

Pulomā was the devoted wife of Maharshi Bhṛgu and the mother of the great ṛshi Cyavana. A rākshasa also named Pulomā had desired her earlier and had seized her hand in an act without Vedic rites. Later Bhṛgu married her in the full Vedic way before the sacred fire. When Bhṛgu left the āśrama (hermitage), the rākshasa carried her off.

On that journey she gave birth to Cyavana. He blazed with such a bright tejas (radiance) that the rākshasa was burned to ash at once. Her tears flowed on and became a river. The Bhārgava ṛshis revere her as the mother of their line, whose suffering began the great Bhārgava family of ṛshis.

The two claims

Bhṛgu Maharshi was a son of Brahmā and one of the great mānasaputras (sons born from the mind of Brahmā). He married Pulomā with full Vedic rites before the sacred fire. A rākshasa had the same name, Pulomā, and he had desired her before this marriage. He had once seized her hand in an informal claiming, in the way of a gāndharva union, without Vedic approval. Bhṛgu’s fire-marriage took first place in every way, and she was rightly and fully his wife. The rākshasa’s earlier informal act carried no weight in dharma against a proper vivāha (wedding) held before Agni. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Ādi Parva, Pauloma Upākhyāna.

The abduction

One day Bhṛgu left the āśrama for a time. He left Pulomā there to tend the sacred fire. The rākshasa Pulomā saw his chance and came into the āśrama, looking about. He found Pulomā alone, beautiful and faithful, busy with her duties.

He asked Agni, who was present in the sacred fire, whether this was truly Bhṛgu’s wife. Agni cannot speak an untruth under any condition. He said that she was Bhṛgu’s wife, married by Vedic fire rites. Agni also said that the rākshasa had once held her hand in an earlier informal act. The rākshasa took hold of this and used it as a reason. He lifted Pulomā and carried her away by force. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Ādi Parva, Pauloma Upākhyāna.

Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara says in his commentary that Agni was put in an impossible place. He could not lie, yet he knew that what he told would lead to disaster. This became the cause of Bhṛgu’s later śāpa (curse) on Agni.

The birth of Cyavana

As the rākshasa fled with her, the child in Pulomā’s womb answered the danger. The great soul Cyavana was born before his time. He was thrown from the womb in that moment of fear and violence. He came into the world blazing, his body bright with a tejas as fierce as a second sun. That light fell on the rākshasa and burned him to ash in an instant. The rākshasa who dared to carry off the wife of a brahmaṛshi was destroyed by the very birth of her radiant son. Pulomā was free. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Ādi Parva, Pauloma Upākhyāna.

The name Cyavana comes from cyuta, which means one who has fallen or one who was thrown out. It points to this early and sudden birth.

The river Vadhūsarā

Pulomā wept. It was fear, or relief, or the shock of what had just happened. Her tears flowed in plenty. The Mahābhārata records that her tears streamed down and became a river, the Vadhūsarā, by the grace of Brahmā and the power of that moment. Brahmā himself appeared and comforted her. He praised her steadiness and the greatness of her son. The Vadhūsarā is thus a river born from a mother’s tears at the moment her son first showed his power.

Bhṛgu’s return and the śāpa on Agni

Bhṛgu came back and found the āśrama empty. Then he met Pulomā with the infant Cyavana, and he learned all that had happened. His just anger did not fall on the rākshasa, who was already ash. It fell on Agni, who had told the rākshasa who she was. Bhṛgu pronounced a śāpa: “Since you showed my wife to that rākshasa, from now on you shall eat all things without choosing.”

This was a heavy śāpa with wide reach. Agni, as the sacred fire, watches over purity and over the choice between what is fit and unfit in a yajña (fire ritual).

Brahmā stepped in and softened the śāpa. He did not undo it fully, for the word of a brahmaṛshi once spoken cannot simply be cancelled. But he changed its terms so that Agni still serves in all sacred rites and purifies whatever he touches. The “eating all things” part remains in a changed form. Agni does receive all offerings in the three worlds, including those of doubtful kind, but his power to purify stays whole. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Ādi Parva, Pauloma Upākhyāna.

Her line

Pulomā’s son Cyavana became one of the best-known ṛshis of the Bhārgava line. His son Pramati was the father of Ruru. Ruru’s story of love and gift for Pramadvarā goes on with the Bhārgava line in the Pauloma Upākhyāna. Through Cyavana, Pulomā is the ancestral mother of the Bhārgava stream that in the end gives rise to Āstīka. He was the one who stopped the great sarpa-yāga (the snake sacrifice) and saved the nāgas from being wiped out.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Pauloma Upākhyāna, Chapters 5–9