One day, the two go for a bath in a brook in a forest, accompanied by their retinue of maids, leaving their clothes on the bank of the stream.
Seeing the plight of her father, King Vrishaparvan, Sharmishtha sacrifices her royal status, and agrees to take up the role of a handmaiden to Devayani, to protect her kingdom's interests.
The king and the Brahmana's daughter fall in love, and so the former asks for Devayani's hand from Shukra, as was custom.
[4] The king erects a mansion specifically for the erstwhile princess, near the artificial woods called the Aśokavanikā, tending to her every need, but remaining faithful to Devayani.
While Yayati admits that he finds the princess beautiful, he refuses, stating that he had promised not to lay with her to Shukra.
Only Puru accepts to bear the burden of the curse among all the king's issue, and so he is designated as Yayati's heir.
After enjoying his sensuous youth for a thousand years, Yayati accepts the curse back from Puru, leaving the latter to reign as king.
Puru becomes the ancestor of the eponymous cadet-branch of the Chandravamsha called the Pauravas, whose successors would eventually give rise to the Kuruvamsha,[7] the dynasty of the Pandavas and the Kauravas.