Urvashi

Urvashi leaves Pururavas. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma , 19th century

Urvashi ( Sanskrit उर्वशी urvaśī f. ) Is the most beautiful of the Apsaras , the nymphs in Hindu mythology. It is already mentioned in the Rigveda ; in the Mahabharata , which was written much later, she is referred to as the "heavenly courtesan".

myth

When the gods wanted to disturb the sage Narayana in his asceticism, they tried to disturb him with seductive apsaras. This, however, caused Urvashi to rise from a flower, which by far surpassed all other Apsaras in beauty. This is how the gods recognized Narayana's superiority.

The beauty of the Urvashi was so beguiling that the sight of it was enough that wise men and gods themselves involuntarily became fathers when a drop of semen fell on the earth. So the seed of the gods Mitra and Varuna poured into a pot when they saw Urvashi. From this the two wise men Agastya and Vasishtha were born. Annoyed by this, the two gods cursed the Urvashi for having to live on earth, where she then became the wife of King Pururavas , the son of Ida and Budha . At the time of marriage, however, she stipulated that Pururavas should never show herself naked. However, when robbers broke into the royal palace one night, Pururavas chased her without dressing. Then a flash of lightning lit up the night and Urvashi saw Pururavas completely naked and so she returned to heaven. The son of the two is Ayus .

Arjuna , the hero of the Mahabharata refused to give in to Urvashi's requests for love, since he was a descendant of Ayus and she was therefore his first mother. So she cursed him for moving around as a woman. The curse was weakened, however, and it was Arjuna who spent the last year of his exile disguised as a woman.

presentation

Apsaras are more frequently depicted in classical Indian temple sculpture, but no explicit depiction of Urvashi is known. It has only appeared in Indian painting - even if only sporadically - since the 19th century.

literature

• Urvasi . In: John Dowson : A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. Trübner & co., London 1879, p. 327 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Web links

Commons : Urvashi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ urvaśī . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 218, col. 2 .