Brahma was born from the navel of Vishnu. From his mind, sage Marichi was born. The great sage Kashyapa was the son of Marichi. He married Diti and Aditi, the mothers of the demons and demigods (devtas). The son of Aditi was Vivasvana, whose son Manu created humans. Manu had no children for a long time. Rishi Vasishtha went to perform a yajna to get a son. But during that yagya, Manu's wife Shraddha begged the chief priest to give her a daughter. The priest agreed and started the Yajna.
Later, a daughter named Ila was born to the pregnant queen. Manu got sad and asked Guru Vasishtha what the reason for that birth was, and he asked him to give him a son. Vasishtha immediately realised the priest's mistake and said he would change his daughter to a son. After praying to Vishnu, the girl child was made a boy by the strength of his mantras and named Sudyumna.
Years rolled by. One day, King Sudyumna, with bows and arrows, mounted his horse and went to the forest to hunt. The minister and the soldiers left with him. They reached the dense forest, chasing the deer and rabbits. Immediately, all the males, including the horses, became female.
It was a forest called Sukumar at the bottom of Mount Meru. Lord Shiva and his consort goddess Parvati used to come there often. Once, a sage came to that forest to meet Lord Shiva. At that time, both Shiva and Parvati were engaged in romance. Seeing the sage, both couples shyly attempted to cover their bodies with clothes. The sage immediately returned from there and went to the nearby ashram. Lord Parameshwar consoled Goddess Parvati, who was ashamed, and said, "No matter what male creature comes to this forest, he should turn into a female immediately." Since then, all the male creatures who entered the forest have become females.
As soon as King Sudyumna entered the forest, he transformed into a woman. The horse, along with the minister and soldiers, was also changed into a female. Immediately, they all forgot their past memories. Not knowing what they were doing, they wandered from forest to forest. Budha, the son of the moon, had built an ashram nearby. After persuading Sudyumna, who got the name Ila as a woman, he married her. Ila gave birth to a baby boy named Pururavas in a few years. Then she remembered Guru Vasishtha. Seeing Sudyumna's condition, Vasishtha prayed to Shiva.
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To keep his promise to Parvati, Shiva said that for one month he would be a girl and for another month he would be a boy. When Sudyumna ruled like this, the subjects were not impressed. Pururavas later became the king of the state. Sudyumna settled in the forest and sat for penance. Sage Narada came there and taught him a mantra called Navakshara.
The king recited the mantra and appeased Goddess Shakti, who blessed Sudyumna with salvation. The lineage born in Queen Ila's womb is called Chandravamsa. Her brother Ikshvaku started the Suryavamsa. The Chandravamsa branched out, and the Yadavas, Kauravas, and Pandavas were born.
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From the tears of joy of Rishi Atri, the son of Lord Brahma, a son named Soma was born. He had another name, Chandra, and he radiated cold. Lord Brahma appointed him as the director of Brahmins, medicines, and scholars. Chandra once started the Rajasuya Yaga. And he kidnapped Brihaspati's wife Tara and kept her in his palace. Despite Brihaspati's repeated requests, Tara was never given back.
In addition, Tara fell in love with Soma, who was still younger than Brihaspati. Two factions among the gods emerged from this issue. Shiva and Indra joined the party of Guru Brihaspati. Having a negative opinion of Brihaspati, Shukracharya joined the demons on the Soma's team. After learning about the matter from the sage Angira, lord Brahma intervened. Chandra acknowledged his mistake and returned Tara to Brihaspati, who was pregnant. Despite how many times they asked whose child it was, she remained silent.
The infant that Tara gave birth to was glowing like gold. But who is the child supposed to belong to? Once more, the Chandra and Brihaspati's groups were at battle. The gods and sages demanded to know who owned the child, but Tara remained silent. The child then scolded the mother for not being honest. This child belongs to the moon; Tara then informed Brahma. Budha (Mercury) was the name of that child, who was displaying extraordinary knowledge from infancy. The union of Budha and Ila, who had come to the forest to perform penance, gave birth to Pururavas.
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Sage Narada praised Pururavas when he visited heaven. After learning about Pururavas, Urvashi, a celestial nymph (apsara), became eager to see him. She brought two lambs to earth and charmed Pururavas, became his queen, and resided in his palace. But if she ever caught him without clothes outside of their romance, she had warned him to leave him.
Years passed. The absence of Urvashi's dance upset Indra, the lord of heaven. He ordered certain Gandharvas to call her at any cost. The lambs were abducted from the palace of Pururavas by the Gandharvas, who showed up there at midnight. Then Urvashi broke down in tears. Without clothes, King Pururavas immediately chased the Gandharvas with a sword. The Gandharvas believed their scheme had succeeded, so they made him follow them for a considerable distance before abandoning the lambs in a forest and disappearing. The Pururavas then went back to the palace with the lambs. Then it was dawn. Urvashi was anticipating his arrival. As she had already warned, she flew to heaven as soon as she saw him naked.
Remembering her and weeping, Pururavas began to wander the earth like a madman. When he saw her and her attendants one day on the banks of the Saraswati River in Kurukshetra, he persuaded Urvashi to accompany him and become the mother of his future children. In sympathy, Urvashi promised to be with him on the last day of each year.
As she promised, on the last day of the same year, Urvashi arrived at Pururavas' palace, stayed for one night, and then departed for heaven the following day. She spent nine months carrying his child there, and she gave him her son once he was born. When Urvashi left his palace again the following year, Pururavas pleaded with her to stay with him permanently. Urvashi politely asked him to discuss the situation with her Gandharva family and flew to Gandharv Lok.
The Gandharvas showed themselves in the jungle when the king, who had gone there, joined his hands and prayed. When they heard his cries, they created Agnisthali, a woman who resembled Urvashi, and they vanished. The king accompanied her on a little walk, and after knowing that it was not Urvashi, he abandoned her there and went to his palace. He thought about Urvashi all night long. The Treta Yug had started by the time he awoke again. All the Vedic mantras were naturally grasped by him.
King then returned to the location where he had left the Agnisthali and discovered a Shami tree. Thinking about the Gandharvlok, he sliced its branch in two and began rubbing the pieces together. Then there was a fire. Agnidev thus became Pururuvas' son. Lord Hari was pleased with the king who used the same fire to perform the yajna. The king then travelled to the world of the Gandharvas with the Lord's assistance.
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