Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1434

c8.1434

Varieties of beetles flew about from flower to flower humming. Trees like the mango and Palāśa were thick with flowers. Creepers (Comparable to young women) entwined and embraced trees (lovers), the former carrying puṣpas (flowers, in the case of young women, coming of age). A fragrant breeze swept the whole region. In this erotic background Kāma and Rati, with their five arrows and accompanied by celestial women came to the āśrama, and there they began singing and dancing. The erotic flow enchanted the soul of Naranārāyaṇas. Nārāyaṇarṣi awoke from his tapas and whispered something in the ears of Nara. By now Kāmadeva had entered the presence of Naranārāyaṇas accompanied by the reputed beauties of Svarloka like Menakā, Rambhā, Tilottamā, Sukeśinī, Manoramā, Maheśvari, Puṣpagandhā, Pramadvarā, Ghṛtācī, Candraprabhā, Somaprabhā, Vidyunmālā, Ambujākṣī and Kāñcanamālā. These beauties were accompanied by 10080 of their beautiful attendants. Naranārāyaṇas were wonder-struck to see this army of Kāma. All those great beauties stood before Naranārāyaṇas in salutation. Some of them began to sing, others to dance and yet others to take up the tunes. Nārāyaṇaṛṣi could easily divine the reason for the show. He thought to himself thus— "None but Devendra could have sent all these people here, and his object must be to hinder our tapas. But I shall prove to Indra that all these mean nothing to me. Let Devendra understand that I can create more beautiful ladies than these women of his here and that I am not in the least attracted by any of them here." Thinking thus Nārāyaṇa beat gently on his thigh and immediately arose therefrom an exceptionally beautiful woman. Since that woman, the most beautiful in all the three worlds, was created from the Ūru (thigh) of Nārāyaṇa she came to be known as Urvaśī. Others were wonder-struck by this new creation. He created some other beauties also, and an equal number of other women to serve them. All of them stood before him in humble salutation.