A member of Yama’s court as per Mahabharata Sabhaparva Chapter 8 verse 26.

A holy place. Bathing here earns one the respect of the world as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 84 verse 157.

Another name for Ganga. She got this name for landing on Bhageeratha’s thigh (uru) as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 60 verse 6.

A famous apsara.

Once the sages Nara and Narayana prayed to Brahma at Badarikashrama in the Gandhamadana mountains for a thousand years. Their meditation scared Indra and he feared that they were meditating to usurp his position. He appeared before them  and told them to ask for any boon, but despite him repeating this they failed to respond in any way. Indra decided to create maya to disturb them. He tried to get wild animals and natural forces to scare them. Indra was demoralised and consulted with Kama.

Kama arrived at Badarikashrama with Rati and several apsaras. They created a festive atmosphere there and Rambha and others began dancing and singing. The sages were distracted and when they opened their eyes they saw Menaka, Rambha, Tilottama, Sukeshini, Manorama,  Maheshyari, Pushpagandha, Pramadvara, Ghritachi, Chandraprabha, Soma, Vidyunmala, Ambujakshi, Kanchanamala and their 10080 maids. Narayana was angered and beat his thighs slightly with his arms. A beautiful woman emerged and since she was born of Narayana’s thighs (ooru) she was named Urvashi. The apsaras were amazed at this creation and then Narayana created several more women. Narayana gifted them all to Indra, who was embarrassed but accepted them. They returned to devaloka as per Devibhagavata Chaturthaskanda.

Urvashi was ranked eleventh as a singer in devaloka after Menaka, Sahajanya, Karnika, Panjika, Sthala, Ritusthala, Ghritachi, Vishwachi, Purvachitti, Ullocha, Pramlocha were the first ten. Those famous for their dance were Anuchana, Adrika, Somakeshi, Mishra, Alambusha, Marichi, Shuchika, Vidyulparna, Tilottama, Ambika, Kshema, Rambha, Subahu, Asika, Supriya, Pundarika, Sugandha, Surasa, Pramadhini, Kamya, Sharadwati. Urvashi was the most beautiful of the apsaras, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 123.

Pururavas was the son of Budha and Ila. He was famous and he became known even in devaloka. During that time Urvashi was cursed by Brahma to be born on earth. (Brahma as per Devibhagavata and Mitra-Varuna in Bhagavata) Urvashi fell in love with Pururavas from just the description of him. She reached his palace and it was love at first sight for Pururavas too. He asked her to be his wife. She agreed with 3 conditions – one – the two goats she had brought with her needed to be protected by the king, two – she would eat only ghee and the king should never force her to eat anything else and three – he would never appear before her nude except when they made love. The king agreed and Urvashi began living in the palace as the queen. They were inseparable and lived happily for a long time. Meanwhile, she was missed in devaloka and even Indra lost interest in his court. When her whereabouts became known, Indra asked the gandharvas to somehow get her back. Vishwavasu and other gandharvas landed at Pururavas’ palace and waited for the royal pair to fight with each other.  One night, the gandharvas stole the goats. The king was with Urvashi then. Urvashi heard the goats bleats and was frightened for them. She began berating the king for not protecting them. The king was about to go find them, when the gandharvas revealed his naked figure to Urvashi with a flash of lightning. Meanwhile, the gandharvas returned the goats. The king took them back to Urvashi but she had left by then. He began searching for her and finally saw her in Kurukshetra. He pleaded with her to return but she advised him that women were like wolves and kings should never trust women or thieves. She then disappeared as per Devibhagavata Pradhamaskanda.

Once Pururavas was invited by Indra to devaloka to fight the asuras. After killing an asura named Mayadhara, Indra began celebrating. There, Pururavas mocked Rambha’s dance steps in front of her guru Thumburu. Rambha asked the king what he knew about dance. He boasted that he had learned more from Urvashi than she had from her guru. Thumburu was furious and cursed that the king would be separated from Urvashi. Pururavas returned, dejected. It was after this that the gandharvas managed to lure Urvashi away. The king prayed to Vishnu at Badarikashrama to get Urvashi back. Vishnu blessed that the king would be reunited with her once every year, as per Kathasaritasagara Lavanakalambaka Taranga 3.

When Urvashi left him in Kurukshetra, Pururavas was distraught. She asked him to pray to the gandharvas and if they were pleased, they would return her to him. She also told him that she was pregnant and if he came to the same spot after a year, he would be reunited with her for one more night and they would have a child then too. The king returned, happy.

A year later, he arrived at Kurukshetra and spent the night with Urvashi. Before she left, she left a beautiful baby with the king. The king prayed to the gandharvas and they gave him an agnisthali (fire pot). Such did the king miss Urvashi that he thought that the agnisthali was Urvashi and roamed the forest with it. Finally, he returned to the palace leaving the agnisthali in the forest. The day he returned, Tretayuga began and the king saw the vedas as three in his mind. He went back to the forest and retrieved the agnisthali.  He then created a structure with two branches of a banyan tree and placing himself in the middle of it, created a fire. This fire was called Jatavedas and it was known as Pururavas’ son. Pururavas created three agnis from Jatavedas. The first was Pranava, the second Narayana and the third Agnivarna. The sons born to Pururavas and Urvashi were Ayus, Shrutayus, Satyayus, Raya, Vijaya, Jaya, though there are variations as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 75 verses 24-25.

See Unmada for how a gandharva named Durmada and a vidyadhari named Unmada fooled Pururavas and Urvashi.

There was once a famous king named Nimi in the Ikshvaku clan. He once decided to conduct a long yajna. He collected all the materials required and called sages like Bhrigu, Angiras, Vamadeva, Pulastya, Pulaha, Richika. In the end, he also called Vasishta. Since Vasishta had to attend another yajna conducted by Indra, he declined but said he could do it after Indra’s yajna. An angered Nimi conducted the yajna with Shatananda, the son of Gautama. By the time Vasishta completed Indra’s yajna and returned after 500 years, Nimi’s yajna was over. Vasishta was not pleased with this and cursed that Nimi’s body and soul be separated. Nimi cursed the same right back. Vasishta roamed as a soul for a while, and in the end, approached Brahma to give him a body. Brahma blessed him and said that he would be born through Mitra-Varuna. Vasishta’s soul reached earth and saw that Mitra and Varuna were occupying the same body. Vasishta too entered the same body. During this time, Urvashi reached the hermitage. Mitra-Varuna ejaculated on seeing her and it fell into a pot. After a few months, the pot broke and two babies emerged. One was Vasishta and the other was Agastya as per Devibhagavata Shashtaskanda.

Once when Agastya was in Indra’s court, Indra asked Urvashi to dance. During the dance, Urvashi became enamored with Jayantha and missed a few steps. Narada, who was playing his veena Mahati, also made a few mistakes. Agastya cursed all of them. Jayantha became a reed, Urvashi was born as a human named Madhavi, and Narada’s veena lost its divine status and started being used by mortals.

See Arjuna for why Urvashi cursed Arjuna

Urvashi was once in love with Kuber as per Mahabharata Sabhaparva Chapter 10 verse 11.

The son of the prajapati Pulaha. Pulaha had three sons with his wife Kshama – Kardama, Urvariya, Sahishnu as per Vishnupurana Ansh 1 Chapter 1.

An apsara in Kuber’s court. She was among the apsaras who danced in front of the sage Ashtavakra as per Mahabharata Anushasanaparva Chapter 19 verse 44.

A valiant prince belonging to the Vrishni dynasty. A per Mahabharata Sabhaparva Chapter 34 verse 16, he attended Yudhishtira’s rajasuya. He was also among the Vrishni kings who visited the Pandavas at Prabhasakshetra. Dhritarashtra was disturbed on hearing that the Vrishni kings were taking part in the war, which is a testament to their valour.

One of the eleven sons born to Chakshushamanu and Nadvala. He married Pushkarani and had six sons – Anga, Sumanas, Khyati, Kratu, Angiras, Gaya as per Bhagavata Chaturthaskanda.

A king in Vaivaswatamanu’s dynasty as per Bhagavata Chatutharskanda.

Also known as Ulkala. A son of Vaivaswatamanu as per Brahmandapurana Chapter 31.