Urvashi came to Pururava with conditions 

Taking a boon from Indra, Urvashi came to meet Pururava on earth. Seeing the end of his dilemma going on in his mind, Pururava felt as if he got everything he ever wished for. He hugged Urvashi and proposes marriage to her. Urvashi accepted the marriage proposal but, according to Indra's boon (wish), she put 3 conditions in front of Pururava instead of one.

1. Urvashi's first condition was that two sheep would always remain close to her bed and the king would have to protect them. If anything happens to them, she would leave. The king laughed and said yes to the condition.

2. The second condition was, upon seeing each other in a naked state except during the time of lovemaking, she would go back to heaven. The king had control over his emotions and senses. So he agreed to this condition as well.

3. And the third condition was that at the beginning of every Prahar (In Hinduism The day is divided into 8 Praharas. Which means Each Prahara has 3 Hours in it.), Prururava would feed her ghee (clarified butter) with his own hand. Pururava also accepted this condition.

If seen, all these conditions were very simple, which was almost impossible to break. Pururava could not understand that while Urvashi wanted to stay with him all her life, why did she put such conditions in front of him? But Pururava loved Urvashi so much that without a second thought he agreed to all the conditions. Knowing the king's love for her, Urvashi did not tell her anything about the events that have happened in heaven. Because she did not want the king either to be upset or disturbed because of her condition. She wanted, Pururava's love for her should not be turned into mercy.

Pururava married Urvashi. Handed over his kingdom to his ministers and went for their honeymoon with Urvashi on Mount Gandhamardan (Located in between Balangir and Bargarh district of modern-day Odisha, India).


Beautiful days of Gandhamardan

Days passed. Pururava and Urvashi's love grew even stronger and deeper. The king often brought Jui (Jasmine) and Kadamb (Burflower) flowers from the forest and Urvashi would adorn her hair with them. Both wandered together in the picturesque forest of Gandhamardan and were lost in the embrace of each other under the shade of Jambu (plum) trees. This proved to be the most beautiful time of both of their lives.

One day while walking in the forest Pururava, saw a Gandharva girl named Udayavati, playing with water in the river. At that very moment, Urvashi too reached there and found the king staring at the girl. She misunderstood the situation and left the place, overwhelmed by jealousy and unhappiness. While walking, Urvashi inadvertently entered into a part of the forest that was cursed by Lord Kartikeya. Where entry of women was prohibited. As soon as Urvashi entered that part of the forest she turned into a vine. 

Pururava was devastated when Urvashi left that place. He clearly understood that Urvashi misunderstood the situation. He ran after her to convince her but Urvashi was gone. He started searching for Urvashi in each part of the forest shouting at her name. On his way, he saw the jambu tree under which he and Urvasi used to spend their time. Some fireflies were seen sitting on the sheet of fresh grass lying in the shade of the tree. The king felt as if Urvashi's absence had set the place on fire. Jui and Kadamb trees were spread their flowers nearby. He started mourning sadly, remembering Urvashi's flower-adorned hair.

Suddenly Pururava saw the shining bright red gem known as Sangamaniya. Evening sunlight coming through the dense branches of the trees was falling on the gem, making it look very attractive. As if the sun is taking the help of its extended rays to pull it. According to legends, whoever finds the Sangamaniya gem, finds its long lost loved ones. 

And, as per its name, Sangamaniya took Pururava close to the place where Urvashi stood with teary eyes, turning into a vine. Pururava recognized her with the familiar scent of Urvashi's energetic body. As soon as he moved forward and touched the vine bodied Urvashi, she transformed into her true form. Pururava's happiness knew no bound. He hugged her with joy. and decided to return to his kingdom. Before leaving Pururava kept the Sangamaniya Mani (gem) with him because only for that Mani, he reunited with Urvashi.


The absence of Urvashi in heaven seemed too heavy

Time waits for none. Now 175 years had passed in heaven while 64,000 years on earth. During this time Pururava and Urvashi carried a very beautiful and happy life. But therein heaven, everyone started feeling the absence of Urvashi. Everywhere it was discussed that the most beautiful Apsara (Celestial nymph) of Swargalok (heaven) had renounced all the comforts of heaven and embraced the life of the earth for the love of a mortal. Indra had already anticipated all this. Gradually, Indra also began to feel insulted that Urvashi is living so happily with Pururava by abandoning him and heaven. Indra, being under the guise of her jealousy, asked the Gandharvas to do anything and bring Urvashi back to heaven.


Plan of Gandharvas

The Gandharvas thought through. It was impossible to separate Urvashi from Pururava. Because the curse of sage Bharat was the destiny of Urvashi. Actually, she wanted to be with Prururva. In which sage Bharat's curse and Indra's boon made this easier. Thinking all this, Gandharvas came up with a plan.

The following night Gandharvas reached Pratishthanpur. At that time the eighth Prahar of the day was about to end. They saw Urvashi and Pururava being naked and engrossed in lovemaking. Taking advantage of this time, he drove the goats away. When the goats started whipping, Urvashi became worried hearing their voice and asked the king to go and save them immediately. Pururavas, without thinking any, got up in a naked state quickly and ran to save the sheep to keep his promise.

Pururava had already broken the first promise unknowingly to protect the sheep. He too did not know that Urvashi was also following him. As the two of them got close to each other, the Gandharvas shone lightning in the sky. Urvashi saw Pururava naked in the flashing light. Hence the second condition was broken. While all this was happening, the first prahara of the day too was passed and Urvashi did not even consume ghee. This broke the third and last condition too.

On seeing her all three conditions broken, Urvashi flew toward heaven at the very moment with a heavy heart and teary eyes. Pururava kept on calling Urvashi unaided. But Urvashi had to ignore his pleas as she was bound by the laws of heaven. But Pururava did not know that it was just the beginning of a new chapter.

To be continued...