Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t18.20

v2.c10.s2.t18.20

a mature writing of Kalidasa. It is based on a very famous legend in ancient India, which is recorded in many documents from *Rigveda* to *Kathsaritsara*. As the play narrates, the valiant King Pururavas saves Urvashi, a beautiful nymph who was kidnapped by the devil, and falls in love with her. After he returns back to his palace, the King could not forget her, and neither can Urvashi after returning to the heaven. Both suffer from love sickness. Urvashi secretly comes down to the earth to meet the King in his garden. Just at that moment, a messenger comes to ask Urvashi to return to the heaven and perform a celestial play. These two lovers feel sad and reluctant to part. Urvashi distracted, makes a mistake during the performance and is banished from heaven. Sympathetic to her plight, Indra allows Urvashi to return to the King and see her son and then return to heaven. Urvashi and the King thus become wife and husband. However, she turns into a vine for forgetting a prohibition, and the King is heartbroken and goes about looking for her. With the help of a magical ruby, Urvashi returns to her