Urvashi (Sanskrit: उर्वशी, IAST: Urvaśī) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as the Puranas.

She emerged out of the thigh of sage Narayana and occupies a special place in the court of Indra, the king of the gods and ruler of svarga.

[3] Indologist Monier Monier-Williams states that the name means 'widely pervasive' and he suggests that in its first appearances in Vedic texts Urvashi was a personification of dawn.

[5] Urvashi is the apsara to be specially named in the Rigveda, the oldest known Hindu scripture which was composed around 1900–1200 BCE.

According to the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, the sage-brothers Nara and Narayana perform penance to please the creator god Brahma, but this makes Indra (the king of the devas) insecure about his throne and he does not want the sages to acquire divine powers.

Finally, he orders the apsaras of his court, including Rambha, Menaka, and Tilottama, to go to Nara-Narayana and distract them through seduction.

Accompanied by the god of love, Kama, and his consort, Rati, the apsaras go to Nara-Narayana, and start to dance seductively in front of them.

According to the legend attested in the Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana, Vashishtha's spirit is consoled by Brahma after his death by telling him that he won't be born again in a womb.

To satisfy his desire, Varuna ejaculates inside a celestial jar that Brahma had made; Urvashi gets passionate, and tells him that though her body belonged to Mitra, her mind was fixed on him.

[18][17][19][20] The most prominent myth featuring Urvashi is about her marriage to Pururavas, a mortal king who is credited as the founder of Chandravamsha (lit.

After Urvashi is cursed to descend on the Earth and become the wife of a mortal, she marries Pururavas on some conditions, with the most important being that he would never appear naked before her apart from during coitus.

In the Shatapatha Brahmana, Urvashi lays down two conditions that Pururavas would make love with her regularly, but only when she consented, and he would never appear naked in front of her.

[21] In the Puranas, three conditions are mentioned—Pururavas would never appear naked in front of her, he would protect her two pet sheep and she would only consume ghee (clarified butter).

Seeing his sorrow, Urvashi reveals that she is pregnant with their child and instructs him to return to the same place the next year so that they could spend that night together.

[15][10] The Adi Parva of Mahabharata mentions different names of these six sons - Ayus, Dhimat, Amavasu and Dhridhayus, Vanayus, and Satayus.

[15][24][23][21] In the Vayu Purana, the sage Agastya once arrives in Indra's court and is welcomed by a dance performance of Urvashi.

According to the Mahabharata, Urvashi is traveling on the banks of a river, when rishi Vibhandaka, son of Kashyapa, sees her and becomes aroused by her beauty and has seminal emissions.

His seed comes in contact with a doe, who turns out be an apsara cursed to remain in that form till she gives birth to a boy.