Dialogue between Purûravas and Urvaśî

🕉️ HYMN 10.95

Introduction

This hymn from the Rig Veda tells the dialogue between Purûravas and Urvaśî. It portrays the painful love between a mortal man and a celestial nymph. Purûravas, abandoned by Urvaśî, tries to win her back. She replies that they belong to different worlds — that of men and that of the gods. The poem expresses both longing for the divine and the understanding that illumination can only come through detachment.

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1.

Purûravas said:
“Why have you left me, O Urvaśî, when I have done you no wrong? What shall I do without you, O light of my life?”

Interpretation:
Purûravas represents the human soul longing for divine wisdom. Urvaśî stands for the heavenly consciousness. When this light departs, man feels lost and incomplete.

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2.

Urvaśî replied:
“I live by the law of the gods, you by that of mortals. The paths of dawn and night never meet.”

Interpretation:
The divine cannot dwell in the world of attachment. Urvaśî reminds him that the spiritual and material planes are separate; enlightenment requires transcendence.

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3.

Purûravas said:
“Do not flee, O fair Urvaśî! Like the wind follows the leaf, my heart follows you. I am consumed by your absence.”

Interpretation:
The seeker chases the lost light, thinking it can be regained. Yet the pursuit is vain — light is not seized, it is realized within.

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4.

Urvaśî replied:
“I do not belong to you, O mortal. Go to the life the gods have given you, for no one can hold lightning in his hand.”

Interpretation:
Urvaśî teaches detachment. The more man tries to possess light, the more it escapes him. Lightning is a symbol of consciousness — it must be received, not owned.

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5.

Purûravas said:
“I remember the days when we were one, when you lay upon my breast. Those memories burn like sacred fire.”

Interpretation:
The memory of union with the divine burns within the soul — it is the yearning for the original oneness between the self and the cosmic spirit.

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6.

Urvaśî replied:
“You shall not see me again until your offering is complete. When your inner fire is purified, you will find me in the light.”

Interpretation:
The inner fire (Agni) is the symbol of transformation. Only when the fire of desire is transmuted into pure awareness can reunion occur — not in the body, but in consciousness.

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7.

Purûravas said:
“What will become of my heart, bereft of you? The days are dark, the nights endless.”

Interpretation:
This is the “dark night of the soul,” the stage of inner desolation before awakening. The seeker must endure this void before rebirth into light.

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8.

Urvaśî replied:
“The wise know the path. Walk in silence. Desire leads to pain, but knowledge leads to peace.”

Interpretation:
Urvaśî reveals the essence of awakening: inner silence and intuitive knowledge. Human love must evolve into divine love — free from possession and fear.

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Conclusion

This hymn shows the eternal tension between human passion and divine realization. Urvaśî is not merely a celestial being, but the personification of divine consciousness that withdraws when man clings to it. Only through purification of the inner fire can true union with the light be attained.