Kalidas takes the weak king from the Puranas and converts him to a valiant and dashing character loved by the Devas, his subjects and Urvashi.
Neither of the tragic endings of the Satapatha Brahmana or the Arthashastra would be acceptable to Kalidas. The hero of the play, that is Pururava, had to reflect the qualities claimed by and appropriate to the king Chandragupta in whose court Kalidas served. The makeover of Pururava began long before the ending. In fact it began in the title of the play. The title of the play is Vikramorvasiyam, which is Vikram and Urvashi, and not Pururava and Urvashi. Vikramaditya, meaning as valiant as the sun, was the title assumed by Chandragupta. This is a clear allusion to Pururava reflecting the qualities of Chandragupta.
Pururava’s manliness and wealth were enough reason for the Urvashi of the Bhagavata Purana to fall in love with the king, but Kalidas needed a more dramatic cause. The demon Kesi abducts Urvashi and Pururava rescues the damsel in distress. In this brief encounter their bodies touch and passion is ignited. Though both fall in love with each other, it is Urvashi who sets down her feelings in a letter and sends it to Pururava. The implication is that the king’s prestige would have suffered had he made the first move. The king’s ego is further enhanced when his wife Aushiniri giver her consent to the marriage of Urvashi and Pururava, because without this consent the marriage would not get public acceptance.
Kalidas would have had a problem with the condition imposed by Urvashi. In the first instance conditions cannot be imposed upon a king. It is the king who imposes conditions. And the condition that Urvashi has imposed, of ensuring that she does not see him naked, would be most unsuitable when the play would be performed in court. Therefore Kalidas changed the condition. In Indra’s court Urvashi made a mistake during a dance performance and her teacher banished her from the court forever. Indra however modified the curse. He told Urvashi to go live with Pururava but return when Pururava sees their child.
In a fit of jealousy, Urvashi steps into a forbidden forest and is turned into a creeper. Here Kalidas pays a tribute of sorts to the Riga Veda. He goes around searching for Urvashi seeking help of humans and animals alike. However though he is definitely lovelorn he is not wimpy. Pururava finds a gem with which he rescues Urvashi. Later Pururava leaves Urvashi to attend a sacrifice at Naimisharanya. Perhaps this is an allusion to the episode in the Arthashastra, in which he was killed. During this time, Urvashi delivers Pururava’s child, a boy, and leaves him in the ashram of saga Chyavana. She wants to spend more time with Pururava and therefore keeps his son away from him. Many years later the inevitable happens and father and son meet. Urvashi prepares to reluctantly leave for heaven according to the terms of her curse. But Indra comes to her rescue again. He needs Pururava’s help in the battle against the Asuras and in return allows Urvashi to stay with Pururava for the rest of his life.
