:पुरूरव) was the first king of the Aila dynasty

Ailas

The Ailas were a dynasty of kings of ancient India. Pururavas, the son of Ila was the founder of this dynasty. The Mahabharata mentioned about the Ailas as, "The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku...

 or the Somavamsha. According to the Vedas, he is a mythological

Hindu mythology

Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...

 entity associated with the Surya

Surya

Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...

 (the sun) and Usha (the dawn), and is believed to resided in the middle region of the cosmos. The Rig Veda (X.95.18) states that he was a son of Ila

Ila (Hinduism)

Ila is an androgyne in Hindu mythology, known for his/her sex changes. As a man, he is known as Ila or Sudyumna and as a woman, is called Ilā...

 and was a pious king. However, the Mahabharata states that Ila was both his mother and his father. According to the Vishnu Purana, his father was Budha

Budha

In Hindu mythology, Budha is the name for the planet Mercury, a son of Chandra with Tara or Rohini. He is also the god of merchandise and protector of Merchants....

, and he was ancestor of the tribe of Pururavas, from whom descended the Kauravas and Pandavas.

Narrative of Urvashi and Pururavas

The earlier version of the narrative of Urvashi and Pururavas is found in the Rigveda (X.95.1-18) and the Shatapatha Brahmana

Shatapatha Brahmana

The Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina and Kanva , with the former having the eponymous 100 adhyayas,7624 kandikas in 14 books, and the latter 104 adhyayas,6806 kandikas in 17...

 (XI.5.1). The later versions are found in the Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

, the Harivamsa

Harivamsa

The Harivamsha is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 verses, mostly in metre. The text is also known as . This text is believed as a khila to the Mahabharata and is traditionally ascribed to Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa...

, the Vishnu Purana

Vishnu Purana

The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...

 and the Matsya Purana

Matsya Purana

Matsya Purana is the sixteenth purana of the Hindu scriptures. During the period of mahapralaya, Lord Vishnu had taken Matsya Avatar to save the seeds of all lives and Manu...

In Vedic literature

The narrative in the Vedic literature tells us that Urvashi, a Gandharvi

Gandharva

Gandharva is a name used for distinct mythological beings in Hinduism and Buddhism; it is also a term for skilled singers in Indian classical music.-In Hinduism:...

or Apsara

Apsara

An Apsara , also known as Vidhya Dhari or Tep Apsar in Khmer, Accharā or A Bố Sa La Tư , Bidadari , Biradali , Widodari and Apson , is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in...

(celestial nymph), having being united with a human king, Pururavas, and after living together for four autumns, suddenly left him on his unintentional violation of the stipulated conditions of the union. Later Pururavas made futile entreaties to her to return to him.

In classical Sanskrit literature

The love story of king Pururavas and celestial nymph Urvashi is found in the Sanskrit drama

Sanskrit drama

The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century CE. The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama. This treatise on grammar from 140 BCE provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India.Its...

, Vikramōrvaśīyam

Vikramorvasiyam

Vikramōrvaśīyam is a Sanskrit play by medieval Indian poet Kalidasa who fluorished in the 4th Century CE, on the Vedic love story of king Pururavas and celestial nymph Urvashi...

, written by the celebrated poet Kalidasa

Kalidasa

Kālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language...

.

Life and descendants

According to the Puranas

Puranas

The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

, Pururavas reigned from Pratisthana (Prayaga). He had six (or seven or eight according to different accounts) sons. The names of these sons are, Ayu (or Ayus), Amavasu, Vishvayu, Shrutayu, Shatayu and Dridhayu. Nahusha

Nahusha

Nahusha was a well-known king of the Aila dynasty. He was the son of Ayu, the eldest son of Pururavas and Prabha, the daughter of Svarbhanu. Nahusha reigned from Pratishthana. He married Viraja, the daughter of the Pitrs. They had six or seven sons, according to different Puranas. His eldest son...

, the son of Ayu, is a well-known name in the Rigveda