A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1427

c5.1427

The story is supposed to have a mythic origin. Max Müller considers it “one of the myths of the Vedas which expresses the correlation of the dawn and the sun. The love between the mortal and the immortal, and the identity of the morning dawn and the evening twilight, is the story of Urvasī and Purūravas.” The word Urvasī, according to the same writer, “was originally an appellation, and meant dawn.” Dr. Goldstücker’s explanation differs, but seems more apposite. According to this, Purūravas is the sun and Urvasī is the morning mist; when Purūravas is visible Urvasī vanishes, as the mist is absorbed when the sun shines forth. Urvasī in the story is an Apsaras, and the Apsarases are “personifications of the vapours which are attracted by the sun and form into mists or clouds.”