Text 45] King Purirava Enchanted by Urvasi 205
tena dve arani krtva
urvasi-loka-kamyaya '
urvasim mantrato dhyadyann
adhararanim uttaradm
atmanam ubhayor madhye
yat tat prajananam prabhuh
sthali-sthanam—the place where Agnisthali was left; gatah—going
there; asvattham—an asvattha tree; sami-garbham—produced from the
womb of the sami tree; vilaksya—seeing; sah—he, Puriirava; tena—
from that; dve—two; arani—pieces of wood required for igniting a fire
for sacrifice; krtva—making; urvasi-loka-kimyayd—desiring to go to
the planet where Urvasi was present; urvasim—Urvasi; mantratah—by
chanting the required mantra; dhyayan—meditating upon; adhara—
lower; aranim—arani wood; uttaram—and the upper one; dtmaénam—
himself; ubhayoh madhye—in between the two; yat tat—that which (he
meditated upon); prajananam—as a son; prabhuh—the King.
TRANSLATION
When the process of fruitive yajiia became manifest within his
heart, King Purtrava went to the same spot where he had left
Agnisthali. There he saw that from the womb of a Sami tree, an
asvattha tree had grown. He then took a piece of wood from that
tree and made it into two aranis. Desiring to go to the planet where
Urvasi resided, he chanted mantras, meditating upon the lower
arani as Urvasi, the upper one as himself, and the piece of wood
between them as his son. In this way he began to ignite a fire.
PURPORT
The Vedic fire for performing yajfa was not ignited with ordinary
matches or similar devices. Rather, the Vedic sacrificial fire was ignited
by the aranis, or two sacred pieces of wood, which produced fire by fric-
tion with a third. Such a fire is necessary for the performance of yajria. If
successful, a yajfa will fulfill the desire of its performer. Thus Purirava
took advantage of the process of yajfa to fulfill his lusty desires. He
