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It shall not be an exaggeration if I say that there is hardly any mode of representation of art that has not dealt with the emotion called love. Love has been the central theme of many forms of art including painting, music, architecture, literature, etc. Love is recognized as an essential entity of this universe and something that is of great importance in the lives of human beings especially because they can consciously engage and involve in it, they can also perceive it at different levels of interpretation thereby articulating it in myriad ways depending upon the culture and civilization in which the lovers are placed. As Francesca Orsini observes that “Culture and language play a crucial role in defining love at every stage,” and people behave differently in different cultural and civilizational territories corresponding to their own understanding of mores of love and the value system that they attach to such conceptions. A study of the interpretation of how a particular society manifests its love and enacts in a particular scenario is interesting from the viewpoint of literary and cultural history. Therefore, the application of the theory of srngara rasa in Urvashi is going to be worth undertaking in the sense that it is going to reveal how the theme of love has been handled in Hindi Poetry in the adept hands of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. 

Nothing has escaped the eye of the god of love, for Greeks Eros, for Romans Cupid, and for Indian aesthetics Kamadeva. When there is a discussion on love, how can one forget Plato’s Symposium wherein, he talks about the omnipresence and omnipotence of love? For Plato, love pervades almost everything that is produced on earth and therefore he observes in the speech of Eryximachus in his dialogue Symposium, “I learn how great and wonderful and universal is the deity of love, whose empire extends over all things, divine as well as human” (Plato 199). This also reminds one of the sections devoted to emotions by Aristotle in his The Art of Rhetoric wherein he talks about different emotions like pity, fear, anger, etc. He opines, “The emotions are all those feelings that so change men as to affect their judgements, and that are also attended by pain or pleasure.” (Aristotle 80)

Undoubtedly, love has been dealt with in detail by poets, thinkers, and philosophers in the West as well as in the East. There is a whole convention of love in the West beginning from Greek archaic epic and lyric poets like Homer, Sappho, Anacreon, etc. to Plato, Ovid, and Boethius up to Chaucer and then to the modern poets. In fact, there is a long tradition of love poetry in Sanskrit Kavya also which goes back to the classical period of Sanskrit Literature. The point I want to make here is that there is a very rich heritage of love poetry in the East in Indian classical Literature as well, which stands on par with the ancient classical tradition of love poetry in the West. This is evident from the sort of literature that has been produced in the Indian classical period, the extensive study of human emotion and how that should be presented over the stage in a play is the subject matter of Bharata Muni’s Natyashastra, which is so detailed and systematic enquiry into the human character and emotions that it seems as if Aristotle’s Poetics stands nowhere in front of the depth with which subtle intricacies have been dealt with in the former one regarding drama and poetry.

Sanskrit Literature is replete with the theme of love. Sushil Kumar De opines that though there are fewer instances of love in Vedic and Buddhist literature but love can be met as a motif in the epic tradition of Indian Literature. With the advent of the classical period in Sanskrit Literature, the erotic themes abounded and flourished so much so that the erotic sentiment overshadowed all other sentiments in Sanskrit Drama as well as poetry and other such forms of literature. Aradhana Singh in her essay “Everyday Expressions of Love as Described in Early Sanskrit Literature (c. 2nd Century BCE to 7th Century CE),” talks about how Natyasastra and poetry based on its conventions can be read as cultural metaphors explicating specific manifestations of the amorous behavioural pattern of the people, she observes,

Nāṭyaśāstra and the poems based upon its conventions are expressed in very specific “cultural idioms” and therefore can be read as “cultural metaphors” which although aestheticized, represent aspects of romantic and sexual culture and gendered behavior. Although poetry is distinguished from ordinary language, it is commonly acknowledged that the situations and emotions it represents are derived from everyday life and surrounding scenarios. (Singh 296)

Kavyas are to furnish the following three functions primarily namely, “production of entertainment (vinod, hāsya, and prīti); imitation of the surrounding world (lokasya anukaraṇa) and instruction (upadeśa) in the trivarga.” (Singh 296) It parallels Sidney’s Defence of Poesy wherein he states the purpose of poetry, is “to teach and delight.” Bharat Muni describes the theory of rasa in Natyasastra and talks about its relevance, labelling it as the soul of poetry. It is noteworthy to see as Aradhana Singh quotes him,

According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, the soul of poetry or kāvya has been rasa or aesthetic experience and the śṛṇgāra rasa or Erotic Sentiment is considered the principal rasa. It is one of the eight sentiments (bhāvas) in a drama, alongside the hāsya (Comic), karuṇa (Pathetic), raudra (Furious), vīra (Heroic), bhayānaka (Terrible), bibhasta (Odious) and adbhuta (Marvelous). This particular rasa is generally looked upon by the theoreticians of the science of poetics as the primary (aṅgīrasa) of the sentiments, easily within the experience of one and all.9 It is the vibhāvas (Determinants), anubhāvas (Consequents) and vyābhicāri-bhāvas (Transitory States) which play an important part in the production of these sentiments. (Singh 296-7)  

For Bharata srngara rasa proceeds or is expounded out of the sthayibhava of love (rati). Interestingly, the way srngara rasa has been treated or conceptualized in Indian tradition is not only the love between two people but it also extends to anything that is “white, pure, bright and beautiful” (297). Srngara rasa is one of the major four rasas and hasya rasa i.e., Comic sentiment comes out of it. Syama or light green is the colour of the Erotic sentiment and Visnu is the presiding deity of this sentiment.

Natyasastra designates ten stages of love in the following words, “abhilāṣa (Longing); cintā (Anxiety); anusṛṃti (Recollection); guṇakīrtana (Enumeration of Merits); udvega (Distress); vilāpa (Lamentation); unmāda (Insanity); vyādhi (Sickness); jaḍatā (Stupor); and maraṇa (Death)” (Singh 297). According to Kamatantra, or Science of Erotics, there is a subtle distinction between love or kama and eroticism and srngara. Aradhana Singh mentions it thus,

While the union of a man and a woman in love may end in joy and sorrow for all people and is mostly to be observed as leading to happiness even in unhappy situations; an Erotic affair is something which benefits only the man and the woman involved. This distinction is quite interesting as in love a man and a woman are not seen as solitary beings, isolated from their surroundings, but the people around them are also being affected by their union or relationship. This hints towards the conception of eroticism as a more private affair, in comparison to love, which has an emotional bearing, not only for the man and the woman involved, but also the people surrounding them. (Singh 297)

The distinction between srngara and kama is so subtle that it might be problematic for somebody who is not aware of the intricacies of these two closely associated yet different categories.  Sanskrit literature has a tradition of dealing with these sentiments separately which is perceptively articulated by Shalini Shah in her essay, “The Philosophy of Kama in the Classical Sanskrit Literature, 7^th-13^th Centuries C.E.,” and she observes,

The classical Sanskrit literary tradition is too vast and srngari kavyas are only one, albeit the largest, genre within it. But there was also a nascent prema tradition within this, literary discourse, where the conception of kama was very different from the one in the srngari kavyas. The prema tradition deals with reciprocity and emotions in the sexual relation, which was seen as a form of communication between men and women, as against the fetishized objectification of women in the latter. (Shah 159)

There are ample instances in srngari Sanskrit Literature that deal with the glorification of women’s beauty. Since women have been considered an object of love in heterosexual relationships in the classical period, there was an emphasis on the male admiration of the female body which is also present in the early Greek and Latin literature wherein poets like Homer and Ovid have talked about the same nakha-sikha varnana which is termed as ecphrasis[1] in Graeco-Latin tradition of love poetry. The fifth elegy of Book I of the Amores, by Ovid, vividly depicts the afternoon encounter of the poet-lover with his beloved Corinna. The meticulous description of the female body is interesting:

Stark naked as she stood before mine eye,

No blemish on her body could I spy.

What arms and shoulders did I touch and see,

How apt her bosom to be pressed by me!

Belly so smooth below the breasts so high;

And waist so long, and what a fine young thigh.

Why detail more? All perfect in my sight;

And naked as she was, I hugged her tight. (Am. i.5)

A similar sort of engagement with the female body and the pleasure drawn out of the male gaze is dealt with in detail in srngari Sanskrit literature, Shalini Shah has mentioned this instance in her essay, she observes, 

In the masculinist srngari Sanskrit literature of our period, women were only a consumable commodity, 'the fetishized object' of the male gaze, and for his exclusive erotic stimulation. Such texts are replete with the nakha- sikha varnana of the nayika where her every single part - be it kesa, stana, romavali, nabhi, nitamba, or jaghana is the subject of the male poet/ rasika 's scopophilic gaze. (Shah 158)

Despite the emphasis on the fidelity of the wife and the conduct expected out of her that of a pativrata nari which is stressed upon in the ancient texts that validated this view and gave birth to the entire body of such obedience from women, there are instances that talk about the women who did exercise their autonomy and freedom of choice in matters of sensual gratification. Shalini Shah notes this instance in her essay wherein she talks about a woman called Yogakarandika who violated her marital constraints without any guilt or regret,

 In Kathasaritasagara we get the story of a woman Yogakarandika whose husband was often on a foreign tour. She says that when he was away “I lived with other men at my pleasure, and so did not cheat the elements of which I was composed and my senses of their lawful enjoyments.” What is interesting about this justification of the adultery by Yogakarandika is her assertion of the legitimacy of her physical needs over patriarchal social morality. (Shah 160) 

This brings us back to the discussion of conventions associated with the srngara rasa or Erotic sentiment in Kavya especially how it is applied to Hindi kavita.  The Sanskrit term rasa is translated differently as sentiment or aesthetic experience, or beauty literally means ‘juice,’ ‘flavour,’ or ‘essence.’ The doctrine of rasa theory is so important in Indian poetics that it makes the foundation of Indian poetic theory. Bharata who is the earliest authority in the field talks about the importance of rasa theory and says, ‘no meaning proceeds (from speech) without (any kind of) Sentiment.’ (Singh 71) There is a close connection between the taste, rasa, and flavour in association with food in India. Bharata mentions beautifully how the term rasa has been taken from relishing food and its taste. Aradhana Singh mentions it in her essay, “Conventions and Representations of Love in Early Sanskrit Kāvyas: A Gendered Reading,” in the following words,

 Just like food cooked with various spices is enjoyed (āsvādayanti) for its taste (rasa) and it gives pleasure and satisfaction in turn, similarly the cultured people (prekṣaka) derive pleasure and satisfaction when they taste the Dominant State or sthāyi-bhāva being represented by an expression of the various states. (Singh 72)

The important thing to be noted here is that these rasas are not produced in a vacuum or in isolation but “their production (rasa-niṣpattiḥ) requires a careful combination (saṃyoga) of vibhāva or Determinants; anubhāva or Consequents and vyabhicāri-bhāva or the Transitory States” (Singh 72) from the list of conventions formulated by the theoreticians, but are presented in new and innovative forms, based upon the talent and imagination of the poet which varies from poet to poet.

Bhava (commonly translated as State) is the closest Sanskrit term equivalent to emotion, which results in the production of sentiments in connection with whatever is being represented in the form of a dramatic piece therefore bhavas are responsible for the aesthetic response or the rasa that is generated out of the theatrical representation.  While talking about and elaborating upon bhava Bharata states that “bhāvas (States) are so called because through ‘Words, Gestures and the Representation of the Temperament, they bhāvayanti (infuse) the meaning of the play (into the spectators).’” (Singh 72) Therefore, the composers of kavya produce their work which is replete with different emotions which are further presented in peculiar ways along with ornamentation and poetic embellishment to make sure that it may result in an emotional state of aesthetic bliss or rasa (one chief aim of kavya literature). It is evident from the above statement that Sentiments and States are dependent on each other, as there can be no Sentiment without the States and no manifestation of States without the Sentiments.  

Erotic sentiment or srngara rasa appears in two forms in humans (heterosexual couple as a norm) which are saṃbhoga (union) and vipralambha (separation). Although the dominant state in both situations is love, it is manifested in two different aspects of the same emotion, i.e., love-in-union and love-in-separation. Jaishankar Prasad distinguishes beautifully between these two aspects of love, he says, “विरह प्रेम की शाश्वत गति है, और सुषुप्त मिलन है।” These are the two aspects of love that will be analyzed in Dinkar’s Urvashi.

In the Preface to Urvashi, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar has tried to capture the purpose of choosing this plot of Pururava and Urvashi, the earliest example of which can be found in Rgveda wherein one gets to know only this that Urvashi after spending some time with Pururava returns to Heaven and Pururava, love-smitten, living through the pangs of separation from his beloved, was badly in search of her. But when he finds her, she tells him that she was pregnant with his child and that she could stay with him any longer. What is important here is that Dinkar confesses the reason why he adopted this plot, not to retell the same story; but to present the Pururava Urvashi encounter as representing the universal desire of a man and a woman in love who long to be united in love. Dinkar has described what both represent and what meaning they designate. Dinkar in the Preface to Urvashi writes,

मेरी दृष्टि में पुरुरवा सनातन नर का प्रतीक है और उर्वशी सनातन नारी का। ‘उर्वशी’ शब्द का कोशगत अर्थ होगा उत्कट अभिलाषा, अपरिमित वासना, इच्छा अथवा कामना। और ‘पुरुरवा' शब्द का अर्थ है: वह व्यक्ति, जो नाना प्रकार का रव करे, नाना ध्वनियों से आक्रांत हो।

उर्वशी चक्षु, रसना, घ्राण, त्वक तथा श्रोत्र की कामनाओं का प्रतीक है; पुरुरवा रूप, रस, गंध, स्पर्श और शब्द से मिलनेवाले सुखों से उद्वेलित मनुष्य। (दिनकर 9) 

Dinkar is indicating something very fundamental about kama trying to interpret it at a higher plane which is beyond the level of physical union. He clearly mentions the sense of dissatisfaction or incompleteness that arouses in stri-purush after the physical union. They want to transcend each other and reach the other plane which is deeper than the physical one. Dinkar says,

नारी नर को छूकर तृप्त नहीं होती, न नर नारी के आलिंगन में संतोष मानता है। कोई शक्ति है जो नारी को नर तथा नर को नारी से अलग रहने नहीं देती, और जब वे मिल जाते हैं, तब भी, उनके भीतर किसी ऐसी तृषा का संचार करती है, जिसकी तृप्ति शरीर के धरातल पर अनुपलब्ध है। (दिनकर 9)

In another such instance Dinkar has tried to establish a subtle distinction between the love that human beings especially kama that a man is gripped with for a woman and vice versa and the kama that is found among other animals who are drawn instinctively. Dinkar has highlighted the uniqueness of this kama that it attains in human beings, which gives birth to beautiful creations in myriad forms. He clarifies in the Preface itself,

काम-शक्ति पशु-जगत में आवश्यकता और उपयोग की सीमा में है। मनुष्य में आकर वह ऐसे आनन्द का कारण बन गई है जो निष्प्रयोजन, निस्सीमऔर निरुद्देश्य है। वह नित्य नये-नये पुलकों को रचना करती है, नई-नई कल्पनाओं को जन्म देती है और मनुष्य को नित्य नवीन स्फुरणों से अनुप्राणित रखती है।. (दिनकर 12)

Then proceeding with his hypothesis of love and its subtleties Dinkar further talks about the transcendental nature of love. He is of the view that in our dharmasastric texts and other ascetic orders mostly kama is renounced labelling it worldly and mundane. What Dinkar wants to convey perhaps here is that this mundane or physical love itself becomes the divine illumination of the absolute truth. It is almost equivalent to what Plato propounded in his dialogue Symposium he talks about the succession of desire from physical love to the divine illumination. Dinkar defines love in the Preface, in the following words,

प्रेम में भी भूत से ऊपर उठकर भूतरोत्तर होने की शक्ति होती है, रूप के भीतर डूबकर अरूप का संधान करने की प्रेरणा होती है।

अपने स्थूल-से-स्थूल रूप में भी, प्रेम एक मानव का दूसरे मानव के साथ एकाकार होने का सबसे सहज, सबसे स्वाभाविक मार्ग है; किन्तु, विकसित और उदात्त हो जाने पर तो वह मनुष्य को बहुत कुछ वही शीतलता प्रदान करता है, जो धर्म का अवदान है।.” (दिनकर 13)

For Dinkar, love is the fountain of all the happiness and joy in this world be it a smaller one or the biggest one in someone’s life. Whatever there is in this world is beautiful or seems to be beautiful only because there at the root somewhere must be lying this feeling of love. Dinkar talks about how enouncing kama is not easy, in fact it is not needed. What is needed is the acceptance of it, not repression. He says, “जीवन में सूक्ष्म आनन्द और निरुद्देश्य सुख के जितने भी सोते हैं, वे, कहीं न कहीं, काम के पर्वत से फूटते हैं। जिसका काम कुंठित, उपेक्षित अथवा अवरुद्ध है, वह आनन्द के अनेक सूक्ष्म रूपों से वंचित रह जाता है।” (दिनकर 14)

This brings him to talk about the love that is there between Urvashi and Pururava, the transcendental nature of their physical love. He talks about how Pururava is always wallowing in dilemmas since he is a human being, earthly; whereas Urvashi is free of all dilemmas and she just wants to experience the heat and warmth of this earthly love. Pururava’s pangs of love are not only his own but a manifestation of the grief of entire world whosoever is separated from his or her beloved. Dinkar observes,

पुरुरवा और उर्वशी का प्रेम मात्र शरीर के धरातल पर नहीं रुकता, वह शरीर से जन्म लेकर मन और प्राण के गहन, गुह्य लोकों में प्रवेश करता है, रस के भौतिक आधार से उठकर रहस्य और आत्मा के अंतरिक्ष में विचरण करता है।

पुरुरवा के भीतर देवत्व की तृषा है। इसलिए, मर्त्य लोक के नाना सुखों में वह व्याकुल और विषण्ण है।

उर्वशी देवलोक से उतरी हुई नारी है। वह सहज, निश्चिंत भाव से पृथ्वी का सुख भोगना चाहती है।

पुरुरवा की वेदना समग्र मानव-जाति की चिरन्तन वेदना से ध्वनित है।.” (दिनकर 14)

Before we enter into the world of Dinkar’s Urvashi and get transformed into Pururava and Urvashi’s abode of love Gandhamadan, this last instance from the Preface to Urvashi, wherein Dinkar talks about the difficulty of balancing these two states of spiritual quest and the physical love, he says, “संन्यास में समाकर प्रेम से और प्रेम में समाकर संन्यास से बचना जितना कठिन है, संन्यास और प्रेम के बीच सन्तुलन बिठाना, कदाचित, उससे भी कठिन कार्य है।“ (दिनकर 16)

Let us now dive deeper into the text per se. The first instance of srngara rasa is evident in the following lines when Urvashi’s fellow nymphs (sakhiya) Rambha and Menaka talk about the boon of immortality. Rambha favours the realm of heaven where gods dwell and she praises the everlasting joys and the benefits of immortality. At this moment Menaka underlines the subtle distinction between mortals and the immortals, their merits, and demerits in the following words:

पर, तुम भूल रही हो रम्भे! नश्वरता के वर को;

भू को जो आनन्द सुलभ है, नहीं प्राप्त अम्बर को।

हम भी कितने विवश! गन्ध पीकर ही रह जाते हैं,

स्वाद व्यंजनों का न कभी रसना से ले पाते हैं।

हो जाते हैं तृप्त पान कर स्वर-माधुरी श्रवण से,

रूप भोगते हैं मन से या तृष्णा-भरे नयन से।

पर, जब कोई ज्वार रूप को देख उमड़ आता है,

किसी अनिर्वचनीय क्षुधा में जीवन पड़ जाता है,

उस पीड़ा से बचने की तब राह नहीं मिलती है,

उठती जो वेदना यहाँ, खुल कर न कभी खिलती है।

किन्तु, मर्त्य जीवन पर ऐसा कोई बन्ध नहीं है,

रुके गन्ध तक, वहाँ प्रेम पर यह प्रतिबन्ध नहीं है।

नर के वश की बात, देवता बने कि नर रह जाए,

रुके गन्ध पर या बढ़कर फूलों को गले लगाए। (उर्वशी 28)

Urvashi is not present with her fellow nymphs at the time of their conversation. Then Rambha is not aware of Urvashi’s absence. Sahjanya tells her that Urvashi is in love with Pururava and is yearning to go and meet her love in the mountains of Gandhmadan. Through Sahjanya Dinkar has beautifully described the immortal appeal of matchless beauty that Urvashi wore:

…इसीलिए तो सखी उर्वशी, ऊषा नंदनवन की,

सुरपुर की कौमुदी, कलित कामना इन्द्र के मन की,

सिद्ध विरागी की समाधि में राग जगानेवाली,

देवों के शोणित में मधुमय आग लगानेवाली,

रति की मूर्ति, रमा की प्रतिमा, तृषा विश्वमय नर की,

विधु की प्राणेश्वरी, आरती-शिखा काम के कर की,

जिसके चरणों पर चढ़ने को विकल-व्यग्र जन-जन है,

जिस सुषमा से मदिर ध्यान में मगन-मुग्ध त्रिभुवन है,

पुरुषरत्न को देख न वह रह सकी आप अपने में,

डूब गई सुरपुर की शोभा मिट्टी के सपने में।

प्रस्तुत हैं देवता जिसे सब कुछ देकर पाने को,

स्वर्ग-कुसुम वह स्वयं विकल है वसुधा पर जाने को। (उर्वशी 30-31)

The next comes one of the most famous and widely quoted lines from Urvashi in which Sahjanya tells Rambha about the state of a lover, and how love affects the person who is inflicted with it. What are the symptoms of being in love and what does it do with the person who is in love? Dinkar has labelled love as the severest of diseases. The following lines are noteworthy:

कहते हैं, धरती पर सब रोगों से कठिन प्रणय है।

लगता है यह जिसे, उसे फिर नींद नहीं आती है,

दिवस रूदन में, रात आह भरने में कट जाती है।

मन खोया- खोया, आँखें कुछ भरी भरी रहती हैं;

भींगी पुतली में कोई तसवीर खड़ी रहती है।

सखी उर्वशी भी कुछ दिन से है खोई-खोई सी,

तन से जगी, स्वप्न के कुंजों में मन से सोई-सी।

खड़ी-खड़ी अनमनी तोड़ती हुई कुसुम-पंखड़ियाँ

किसी ध्यान में पड़ी गंवा देती घड़ियों पर घड़ियां।

दृग से झरते हुए अश्रु का का ज्ञान नहीं होता है,

आया-गया कौन, इसका कुछ ध्यान नहीं होता है।

मुख-सरोज मुसकान बिना आभाविहीन लगता है,

भुवन-मोहिनी श्री का चन्द्रानन मलीन लगता है।

सुनकर जिनकी झमक स्वर्ग की तंद्रा फट जाती थी,

योगी की साधना, सिद्ध की नींद उचट जाती थी,

वे नूपुर भी मौन पड़े हैं, निरानन्द सुरपुर है,

देवसभा में लहर लास्य को अब वह नहीं मधुर है। (उर्वशी 31-32)

There is an interesting take on motherhood in these lines in which Rambha talks about what is going to happen when Urvashi will have to give birth to Pururava’s child. In contrast to the glorified image of motherhood in ancient Indian literature, these lines present an altogether different picture of motherhood. These lines describe what motherhood takes away from a woman, the lines are:

और मातृ-पद को पवित्र धरती, यद्यपि, कहती है,

पर, माता बनकर नारी क्या क्लेश नहीं सहती है?

तन हो जाता शिथिल, दान में यौवन गल जाता है,

ममता के रस में प्राणों का वेग पिघल जाता है।

रुक जाती है राह स्वप्न-जग में आने-जाने की,

फूलों में उन्मुक्त घूमने की, सौरभ पाने की।

मेघों में कामना नहीं उन्मुक्त खेल करती है,

प्राणों में फिर नहीं इंद्रधनुषी उमंग भरती है।

रोग, शोक, सन्ताप, जरा, सब, आते ही रहते हैं,

पृथ्वी के प्राणी विषाद नित पाते ही रहते हैं। (उर्वशी 34).

Rambha in another instance talks about what love does to a person. The interesting thing is that Urvashi is not even a human being, she is a nymph (apsara) from heaven (swarglok) and if she falls in love with this King called Pururava, then in the process of becoming a lover what is it that she is going to lose? Rambha boldly talks about the fate of Uravshi and thereby anybody who falls in love, in these following lines:

हाँ, अब परियाँ भी पूजेंगी प्रेम-देवता जी को,

और स्वर्ग की विभा करेगी नमस्कार धरती को।

जहाँ प्रेम राक्षसी भूख से क्षण-क्षण अकुलाता है,

प्रथम ग्रास में ही यौवन की ज्योति निगल जाता है;

धर देता है भून रूप को दाहक आलिंगन से,

छवि को प्रभाहीन कर देता ताप-तप्त चुम्बन से,

पतझर का उपमान का बना देता वाटिका हरी को,

और चूमता रहता फिर सुन्दरता की ठठरी को।

इसी देव की बांहों में झुलसेंगी अब परियाँ भी,

यौवन को कर भस्म बनेंगी माता अप्सरियाँ भी। (उर्वशी 35)

But what Menaka responds to this description of the fate of women who are going to become mothers as a result of their falling in love and to this negative portrayal of motherhood, is also interesting and noteworthy. In these lines Menaka talks about the rewards that a woman achieves when she becomes a mother, the following lines:

पर, रम्भे! क्या कभी बात यह मन में आती है,

मां बनते ही त्रिया कहाँ से कहाँ पहुँच जाती है?

गलती है हिमशिला सत्य है गठन गेह की खोकर,

पर, हो जाती वह असीम कितनी पयस्विनी होकर?

युवा जननि को देख शान्ति कैसी मन में जगती है!

रूपमती भी सखी! मुझे तो वही त्रिया लगती है,

जो गोदी में लिये क्षीरमुख शिशु को सुला रही हो

अथवा खड़ी प्रसन्न पुत्र का पलना झुला रही हो। (उर्वशी 36)

 This instance talks about the restlessness of the lover for the beloved. Chitralekha describes how Urvashi is mad with love for Pururava and she cannot be prevented from going to the King’s palace wherein she expects her lover. The following lines also talk about the psychic condition of the person who is in love. Urvashi is fed up with the monotonous life of heaven and she after being saved from a Gandharva by Pururava, is mad for him. Urvashi’s inner thoughts are depicted poignantly in these lines:

“रोक चुकीं तुम बहुत, अधिक अब और न रोक सकोगी

दिव में रखकर मुझे नहीं जीवित अवलोक सकोगी।

भला चाहती हो मेरा तो वसुधा पर जाने दो

मेरे हित जो भी संचित हो भाग्य, मुझे पाने दो।

नहीं दिखती कहीं शान्ति मुझको अब देव-निलय में,

बुला रहा मेरा सुख मुझको प्रिय के बाहु-वलय में।

…लगता है, कोई शोणित में स्वर्ण-तरी खेता है,

रह-रह मुझे उठा अपनी बाहों में भर लेता है।

कौन देवता है, जो यों छिप-छिपकर खेल रहा है,

प्राणों में रस की अरूप माधुरी उंड़ेल रहा है?

जिसका ध्यान प्राण में मेरे यह प्रमोद भरता है,

उससे बहुत निकट होकर जीने को जी करता है।

“यही चाहती हूं कि गन्ध को तन हो, उसे धरूं मैं,

उड़ते हुए अदेह स्वप्न को बाहों में जकड़ू मैं

निराकार मन की उमंग को रूप कहीं दे पाऊं,

फूटे तन की आग और मैं उसमें तैर नहाऊँ।

कहती हूं, इसलिए चित्रलेखे! मत बेर लगाओ,

जैसे भी हो मुझे आज प्रिय के समीप पहुँचाओ।“ (उर्वशी 37-38)

This is another beautiful instance wherein Pururava is also inflicted by love for Urvashi. He is so much in love with her that he forgets that he has a wife in the palace named Aushinari. Pururava’s condition when he is in love and yearns to meet Urvashi, is the remaining half of the love felt by Urvashi for him. Chitralekha describes how King Pururava himself talked about beauty and its impact on himself. Chitralekha reveals what she overheard Pururava opening his heart out in the following lines:

“एक मूर्ति में सिमट गईं किस भांति सिद्धियां सारी?

कब था ज्ञात मुझे, इतनी सुन्दर होती है नारी?

लाल-लाल वे चरण कमल-से, कुंकुम-से, जावक-से,

तन की रक्तिम कान्ति शुद्ध, ज्यों, धुली हुई पावक से।

जग भर की माधुरी अरुण अधरों में धरी हुई-सी।

आँखों में वारुणी-रंग निद्रा कुछ भरी हुई-सी।

तन-प्रकांति मुकुलित अनन्त ऊषाओं की लाली-सी

नूतनता संपूर्ण जगत की संचित हरियाली-सी।

पग पड़ते ही फूट पड़ें विद्रुम प्रवाल धूलों से,

जहाँ खड़ी हो, वहीं व्योम भर जाए श्वेत फूलों से।

“दर्पण, जिसमें प्रकृति रूप अपना देखा करती है;

वह सौन्दर्य, कला जिसका सपना देखा करती है।

नहीं, उर्वशी नारि नहीं, आभा है निखिल भुवन की;

रूप नहीं, निष्कलुष कल्पना है स्रष्टा के मन की।“ (उर्वशी 41)

Dinkar’s Urvashi is replete with such instances that talk about different states of love and the way Dinkar has presented each line and every word with so much poetic ornamentation and embellishment that the entire subject matter is a powerful carrier or producer of srngara rasa. This enquiry into rasa theory especially in the prathama ank of the khandkavya, Urvashi has been rewarding in the sense that it highlighted the conventional tradition of love poetry that has been there in the early Sanskrit literature. The enquiry can be furthered in the same framework and Urvashi undoubtedly presents infinite possibilities for such studies. For instance, Pururava talks about his restlessness in the hands of love in the following lines:

सिन्धु सा उद्दाम, अपरम्पार मेरा बल कहाँ है?

गूंजता जिस शक्ति का सर्वत्र जय जयकार,

उस अटल संकल्प का सम्बल कहाँ है?

यह शिला-सा वक्ष, ये चट्टान-सी मेरी भुजाएँ,

सूर्य के आलोक से दीपित, समुन्नत भाल,

मेरे प्राण का सागर अगम, उत्ताल, उच्छल है।

सामने टिकते नहीं वनराज, पर्वत डोलते हैं,

कांपता है कुंडली मारे समय का व्याल,

मेरी बांह में मारुत, गरुड़, गजराज का बल है।

मर्त्य मानव की विजय का तूर्य हूं मैं,

उर्वशी! अपने समय का सूर्य हूं मैं।

अन्ध तम के भाल पर पावक जलाता हूं,

बादलों के सीस पर स्यन्दन चलाता हूं।

पर, न जाने, बात क्या है!

इन्द्र का आयुध पुरुष जो झेल सकता है,

सिंह से बांहें मिलाकर खेल सकता है,

फूल के आगे वही असहाय हो जाता,

शक्ति के रहते हुए निरुपाय हो जाता।

विद्ध हो जाता सहज वांकिम नयन के बाण से,

जीत लेती रूपसी नारी उसे मुसकान से।

…चाहिए देवत्व,

पर, इस आग को धर दूं कहाँ पर?

कामनाओं को विसर्जित व्योम में कर दूं कहाँ पर?

वह्नि का बेचैन यह रसकोष, बोलो, कौन लेगा?

आग के बदले मुझे सन्तोष, बोलो, कौन देगा? (उर्वशी 70-72)

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[1] The rules of a classical ecphrasis consisted of a formal description in proceeding systematically from the top to downwards detailing every part of the object of beauty being defined or praised, hence Corinna is treated like a beautiful statue or picture displayed for the appraisal of the connoisseur.