Viśālā, Daughter of Varuṇa
Viśālā was the daughter of Varuṇa and the close friend (sakhī) of Aśrubindumati. She lived in and around the divine lake called the Kāma-saras. When Yayāti came to the lake in his old age, Viśālā told him who Aśrubindumati was and what conditions she set for marriage. She helped bring about the Gāndharva marriage (Gāndharva-vivāha) of Yayāti and Aśrubindumati.
The first meeting
Yayāti came to the Kāma-saras while he was wandering in the forest. Viśālā was the first divine being he met there. She appeared before him, but she refused to speak with him and withdrew.
Yayāti went on and saw Aśrubindumati herself on a lotus. Then he sought out Viśālā again, and this time she explained everything he wished to know.
The Kāma-saras and the birth of Aśrubindumati
Viśālā told Yayāti how the Kāma-saras came to be. Śiva’s third eye burned Manmatha to ashes. Rati came to this lake in her grief and wept. Her tears of śoka (grief) filled the lake, and they gave rise to jarā (old age), viyoga (separation) and duḥkha (sorrow).
Later Manmatha was restored to her. Rati returned and wept tears of ānanda (joy). These joy-tears fell into the water of the lake and made a lotus with a thousand petals. Aśrubindumati was born from that lotus.
Viśālā named herself as the friend of Aśrubindumati and the daughter of Varuṇa, the guardian of the lake.
Aśrubindumati’s conditions
Viśālā also told Yayāti the conditions of Aśrubindumati. She would accept only a young husband. She would not accept a man who already had co-wives.
Viśālā said that Devayānī and Śarmishṭhā were Yayāti’s wives, and that this was an obstacle that had to be settled. After this plain talk, Yayāti was directed to take the youth of his son Pūru in exchange for his own age, and to make a vow of devotion to Aśrubindumati alone.
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 77
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 77–79