the king's plight without her, she agreed to return once every year to him. The king still missed her a lot, so now convinced of his love, the Gandharvas asked him to perform a Yagya, due to which Pururava attained Gandharva-hood and could reunite with Urvashi (P. 1.2). Purana: In all, Vishnu Purana (4.6, 34-39), Padma Purana (Sṛṣṭi Khaṇḍa 12, 62-68), Matsya Purana (24, 10-32), Mahabharata, Bhāgavata Purana (9, 14) and the story of Gunadhya in Brihatkatha are the sources of the story of Pururava and Urvashi. There are multiple versions of these stories in different sources, but one can see the following elements in this pool: (a) That Urvashi descended from heaven for some reason and met Pururava; (b) The two lived together under some condition(s) for some time; (c) At least on one occasion Urvashi had to part from the king under some sort of breach, for which she changed form; (d) Urvashi returned to her form and got reunited with the king, but there came a time when she had to return to the heaven to serve Indra (e) The two had a son together, named Ayuṣa. Whether they lived together happily ever after is questionable, because there is one more story in Mahabharata in which Arjuna (a descendant of Pururava) goes to heaven and meets Urvashi there. Hence, by inference she and Pururava lived together during his lifetime, as he was a mortal. Adaptations by Kalidasa Adaptations by Kalidasa add novelty and surprise in the original subject, and infuse fresh depth and perspective. Here is how: (1) Urvashi was banished from the heaven, but how she got that punishment is Kalidasa's own imagination. According to Vikramorvashiyam, she was playing the part of Lakshmi in a play directed by Bharata Muni, performed in the court of Indra. In the scene of Lakshmi Svayamvara, she was asked who she had given her heart to. Urvashi, smitten by Pururava at that time, could not distinguish between her role and her self, and ended up saying 'Pururava' instead of 'Purushottama'. This lack of mindfulness angered Bharata Muni, who cursed her to fall to earth. This curse, actually, was a boon for her. Indra, out of his appreciation for her, modified the curse by saying that she would return from earth when Pururava sees the face of their son. (2) Some of the original versions suggest that Urvashi returned to heaven