Who is Urvaśī (उर्वशी)?

 

Urvaśī (उर्वशी) was described in Puranas as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. The popular narration from Puranas of Urvaśī and Purūravā (पुरूरवा) is known to everyone.

However, Sage Atri eulogised Urvaśī in Rig Veda (5.41.19) for her favour in getting enlightenment.

Consider the following.

Rig Veda 5.41.19

abhi na iḻā yūthasya mātā sman nadībhir urvaśī vā gṛṇātu | urvaśī vā bṛhaddivā gṛṇānābhyūrṇvānā prabhṛthasyāyoḥ ||

Let Iḻā, mother of the flock, greet (enlighten and inspire) us, or let Urvaśī, along with the rivers. Urvaśī or Br̥haddivā, accompany us for the increase of the strength-giving portion.

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It is to be noted that Rig Veda, which is the source for all subsequent religious/spiritual texts like Puranas/Upanishads, etc, does not mention who Urvaśī is.

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If we carefully scrutinise the above Rik, we can find that three divine females, ie., Iḻā, Urvaśī , Br̥haddivā were mentioned.

1) Iḻā is frequently mentioned, along with sarasvatī  and mahī or Bhāratī and they were called 3 DIVINE FEMININE ENERGIES or tisro devī.

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Rig Veda 5.5.8

iḻā sarasvatī mahī tisro devīr mayobhuvaḥ | barhiḥ sīdantv asridhaḥ ||

She (iḻā) of the vision of knowledge, she (sarasvatī) of its flowing inspiration, she (mahī or Bhāratī) of its vastness, three goddesses who give birth to the Bliss, they who stumble not, may they take their seats at the altar strewn of the sacrifice.

• In Rig Veda, Iḻā is described as functioning in the Earthly sphere, while Saraswatī 's function is in the antariksha - mid space ( between Earth and Heaven), and mahī or Bhāratī is described as pervading or functioning in the Heaven and beyond.

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2) Br̥haddivā = Brhat+ divā = The female divinity, which pervades endlessly - Brhat.

Hence, Br̥haddivā may indicates Bharati or mahī (great).

3) Urvaśī - uru and √aś - to pervade

Further, Urvaśī is eulogised to fill the midspace or antariksha in Rig Veda 10.95.17.

antarikṣaprāṃ rajaso vimānīm upa śikṣāmy urvaśīṃ

“She who fills the midspace, who is the measurer of the dusky realm, Urvaśī…."

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Sarasvatī has the same nature of pervading in the antariksha or mid-space.

Hence, Urvaśī must be Sarasvatī , in esoteric sense.

In my view, Sage Atri eulogised Sarasvatī as Urvaśī for enlightenment.

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The original idea of eulogising Sarasvatī as Urvaśī by Sage Atri might have been overshadowed by a romantic narration of Urvaśī and Pururava in Rig Veda 10.95, in a dialogue form.

Actually, the dialogue between Urvaśī and Pururava in Rig Veda 10.95, should be understood in an esoteric sense only, as it points out towards the struggles of a SPIRITUAL aspirant.

The composers of subsequent literature,ie., Bṛhaddevatā, Puranas, etc, misunderstood the the dialogue between Urvaśī and Pururava in Rig Veda 10.95, and projected Urvaśī as an apsara, emanated from the thigh of Rishi Narayana.